Under-20 Six Nations: Ireland Under-20s v England Under-20s

Something has got to give in tonight’s top of the table clash at Cardiff Arms Park where Richie Murphy’s Ireland Under-20s (sponsored by PwC) come up against fellow unbeaten side England.

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2021 UNDER-20 SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Thursday, July 1

IRELAND UNDER-20s (1st) v ENGLAND UNDER-20s (2nd), Cardiff Arms Park, 8pm (live RTÉ News Now & Player/NI, UK and other locations: YouTube/Facebook Live)

Team News: The Ireland Under-20s opened their Six Nations campaign with bonus point wins over Scotland and Wales, and head coach Murphy has made two changes in personnel for the England game.

Temi Lasisi and Sam Illo return to the front row as the Ireland management continue to carefully manage resources and the squad’s workload, with Cork native Alex Kendellen once again captaining the side from the back row.

Murphy has selected an unchanged back-line as Jamie Osborne, Ben Moxham and Chris Cosgrave line up in the back-three, with Connacht duo Cathal Forde and Shane Jennings continuing their midfield partnership.

Nathan Doak, who scored 20 points and was the player-of-the-match against Wales last time out, is retained at half-back, with Kilkenny youngster Tim Corkery outside him.

Lasisi and Illo pack down either side of hooker Ronan Loughnane, while the workhorse second row pairing of Alex Soroka and Harry Sheridan remains unchanged.

Kendellen is joined in the back row by Donnacha Byrne and Oisin McCormack, with the trio making 41 tackles and 185 metres between them against the Welsh.

Murphy has plenty of options on his replacements bench, including Chay Mullins who has come through the IQ Rugby programme and is named in the matchday squad for the first time.

Meanwhile, England U-20 head coach Alan Dickens has made four changes to the team that started their 31-12 bonus point success against Scotland last week.

Charlie Atkinson and Tom Litchfield, both in the back-three, and Gloucester lock Arthur Clark and Bath number 8 Nahum Merigan all make their first start of the 2021 Championship.

There are also two positional changes, with Bath’s Ewan Richards moving to blindside flanker and Jack Clement from Gloucester completing the back row at openside.

Leicester Tigers’ Jack van Poortvliet – the player-of-the-match against France and a try scorer against the Scots – continues to captain the side from scrum half.

Harlequins hooker Sam Riley has impressed with three tries so far, while Saracens’ Ollie Stonham has been added to the bench for a potential U-20 Six Nations debut.

Under-20 Six Nations Results/Fixtures

Under-20 Six Nations Table

IRELAND U-20: Jamie Osborne (Naas CBS/Naas RFC/Leinster); Ben Moxham (Larne High School/Ballymena RFC/Ulster), Shane Jennings (Garbally College/Buccaneers RFC/Connacht), Cathal Forde (Colaiste Iognaid/Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht), Chris Cosgrave (St. Michael’s College/UCD RFC/Leinster); Tim Corkery (St. Kieran’s College, Kilkenny/UCD RFC/Leinster), Nathan Doak (Wallace High School/Banbridge RFC/Ulster); Temi Lasisi (CBS Enniscorthy/Lansdowne FC/Leinster), Ronan Loughnane (Cistercian College Roscrea/UCD RFC/Leinster), Sam Illo (Wesley College/Old Wesley RFC/Leinster), Alex Soroka (Belvedere College/Clontarf RFC/Leinster), Harry Sheridan (Sullivan Upper School/Dublin University FC/Ulster), Donnacha Byrne (Summerhill College/Sligo RFC/Connacht), Oisin McCormack (Garbally College/Buccaneers RFC/Connacht), Alex Kendellen (PBC Cork/UCC RFC/Munster) (capt).

Replacements: Eoin de Buitléar (Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin/An Ghaeltacht/Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht), Jack Boyle (St. Michael’s College/UCD RFC/Leinster), Mark Donnelly (CBC Cork/Garryowen FC/Munster), Mark Morrissey (Blackrock College/UCD RFC/Leinster), Reuben Crothers (Wallace High School/Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster), Conor McKee (Sullivan Upper School/Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster), Ben Carson (Wallace High School/Banbridge RFC/Ulster), Jude Postlethwaite (RBAI/Banbridge RFC/Ulster), Jack Kelleher (PBC Cork/UCC RFC/Munster), Daniel Okeke (Ardscoil Ris/Shannon RFC/Munster), Chay Mullins (SGC Filton/Bristol Bears/IQ Rugby).

ENGLAND U-20: Charlie Atkinson (Wasps); Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints), Jack Bates (Bristol Bears), Dan Lancaster (Leeds Tykes), Arthur Relton (Exeter Chiefs); Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers) (capt); Phil Brantingham (Newcastle Falcons), Sam Riley (Harlequins), Harvey Kindell-Beaton (Saracens), Arthur Clark (Gloucester), Alex Groves (Bristol Bears), Ewan Richards (Bath), Jack Clement (Gloucester), Nahum Merigan (Bath).

Replacements: Archie Vanes (Leicester Tigers), Tarek Haffar (London Irish), Luke Green (London Irish), Freddie Thomas (Gloucester), Ollie Stonham (Saracens), Josh Gray (Gloucester), Tom Carr-Smith (Bath), Tommy Mathews (Hartpury University), Phil Cokanasiga (London Irish), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Orlando Bailey (Bath).

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Rhys Jones, Elfin Morris Roberts (both Wales)
Television Match Official: Dan Jones (Wales)

Watch

The game is live on RTÉ News Now and the RTE Player in the Republic of Ireland, while viewers in Northern Ireland/the UK and around the world can watch it live on YouTube or Facebook.

Pre-Match Quotes – Richie Murphy (Ireland U-20s): “We have been pleased with our start to the Championship, but we know we must continue to make improvements week-on-week, starting on Thursday evening against a very strong England side.

“The squad have worked incredibly hard on optimising our recovery in between matches, and we go into Thursday’s game confident that we are moving in the right direction.”

Alan Dickens (England U-20s): “A Six Nations campaign is very much a squad effort so we’ve made some changes across the matchday 26 for this fixture. There’s a lot of competition among the group.

“We will be coming up against a strong Ireland side who have also started with two wins to this year’s competition, so we know how tough a challenge it is going to be.

“Our performance has been building through the tournament and we’ve been improving with each game. I want to see that again when we take to the pitch on Thursday night.”

Pre-Match Links –

‘We Want To Show What We Can Do’ – Soroka

‘It’s All To Play For’ As Moxham Gears Up For Ireland-England Clash

Tucker Aiming For Ireland U-20s To Stay On Upward Curve

Doak And Kendellen Play Key Roles As Ireland U-20s Continue To Gel

In Pics: Ireland U-20s Make It Two From Two In Cardiff

Recent Meetings –

2018: Under-20 Six Nations: England U-20s 48 Ireland U-20s 15, Ricoh Arena, Coventry

2019: Under-20 Six Nations: Ireland U-20s 35 England U-20s 27, Irish Independent Park; World Rugby Under-20 Championship – Pool B: England U-20s 26 Ireland U-20s 42, Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada, Santa Fe; World Rugby Under-20 Championship – 5th-8th Place Play-Off: Ireland U-20s 23 Ireland U-20s 30, Club Old Resian, Rosario

2020: Under-20 Six Nations: England U-20s 21 Ireland U-20s 39, Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton

Support the Ireland U-20s on www.facebook.com/irishrugby or search #FutureIsGreen, #IREvENG and #ShouldertoShoulder on www.twitter.com/irishrugby.