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

It is second plays second-from-bottom as the Ireland Under-20s (sponsored by PwC) resume their U-20 Six Nations campaign with a trip to Treviso to face Italy.

2023 UNDER-20 SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP:

Friday, February 24 –

ITALY UNDER-20s (5th) v IRELAND UNDER-20s (2nd), Stadio Comunale di Monigo, 8.15pm local time/7.15pm Irish time (live RTÉ 2/RTÉ Player/BBC iPlayer/Sky Sport Italia)

Team News: UCD hooker Gus McCarthy will captain an unchanged Ireland U-20 team against Italy, as head coach Richie Murphy rewards the players who have performed impressively in the opening two rounds of action.

McCarthy skippers from the front row alongside George Hadden and Paddy McCarthy. Diarmuid Mangan and Conor O’Tighearnaigh continue their second row pairing, with James McNabney, Ruadhán Quinn and Brian Gleeson forming the starting trio of loose forwards.

Henry McErlean, James Nicholson and Hugh Gavin will offer plenty of attacking threat in the back-three, while Hugh Cooney and Galway Corinthians’ John Devine make up the centre pairing for the third straight game.

Sam Prendergast, who was the PwC player-of-the-match against France and is top of the Championship’s scoring charts with 30 points, teams up again at half-back with Terenure College clubman Fintan Gunne.

Clontarf centre Cooney commented: “It is definitely up a level from what I have experienced before. I played Ireland Under-19s last year, two Tests against France. It’s a step up in terms of coaching and the amount of time we have put into it. I didn’t expect that.

“We don’t want to be pack-focused, forward-focused, it is just when the opportunity presents itself we will play.

“We want to play to the space, if that’s up front or out on the edges, we will play to where the space is. Each training we are getting better, gelling, learning more from coaches like Mark (Sexton, backs coach).”

Meanwhile, Italy U-20 boss Massimo Brunello has made three personnel changes and two positional switches to the team that lost 32-25 to England last time out.

Livorno winger Alessandro Gesi and Perpignan’s Nicola Bozzo, who partners Treviso’s own Dewi Passarella in the centre, both return to the Italian back-line. François Carlo Mey from Clermont Auvergne shifts to full-back.

Calvisano’s Jacopo Botturi slots in at number 8, while powerful Mogliano Veneto prop Destiny Ugiagbe Aminu will be looking to add to his try haul after touching down twice against England in Gloucester.

Under-20 Six Nations Results/Fixtures

Under-20 Six Nations Table

ITALY U-20: François Carlo Mey (ASM Clermont Auvergne); Alessandro Gesi (Livorno Rugby), Dewi Passarella (Benetton Rugby Treviso), Nicola Bozzo (USA Perpignan), Matthias Douglas (Mogliano Veneto Rugby); Giovanni Sante (Montpellier Hérault Rugby), Sebastiano Battara (Mogliano Veneto Rugby); Destiny Ugiagbe Aminu (Mogliano Veneto Rugby), Giovanni Quattrini (ASD Rugby Milano) (capt), Marcos Francesco Gallorini (Unione Rugby Capitolina), Alex Mattioli (Rugby Colorno 1975), Pietro Turrisi (Racing 92 Paris), Carlos Lizardo Berlese (Ruggers Tarvisium), David Odiase (Oyonnax Rugby), Jacopo Botturi (Rugby Calvisano).

Replacements: Nicholas Gasperini (Stade Français Paris), Samuele Taddei (Rugby Noceto FC), Alex Valentino Artuso (Rugby Casale), Enrico Pontarini (Rugby Casale), Filippo Lavorenti (CUS Torino), Filippo Bozzoni (Rugby Calvisano), Simone Brisighella (Rugby Viadana 1970), Valerio Siciliano (UR Capitolina).

IRELAND U-20: Henry McErlean (Terenure College RFC/Leinster); James Nicholson (UCD RFC/Leinster), Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster), John Devine (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht), Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht); Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC/Leinster), Fintan Gunne (Terenure College RFC/Leinster); George Hadden (Clontarf FC/Leinster), Gus McCarthy (UCD RFC/Leinster) (capt), Paddy McCarthy (Dublin University FC/Leinster), Diarmuid Mangan (UCD RFC/Leinster), Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster), James McNabney (Ballymena RFC/Ulster), Ruadhán Quinn (Old Crescent RFC/Munster), Brian Gleeson (Garryowen FC/Munster).

Replacements: Danny Sheahan (UCC RFC/Munster), George Morris (Lansdowne FC/Leinster), Fiachna Barrett (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht), Evan O’Connell (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster), Jacob Sheahan (UCC RFC/Munster), Oscar Cawley (Naas RFC/Leinster), Harry West (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht), Rory Telfer (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster).

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Ian Kenny (Scotland), Luc Ramos (France)
Television Match Official: Ben Blain (Scotland)

Watch

The game is live on RTÉ 2 and the RTÉ Player in the Republic of Ireland, while viewers in Northern Ireland/the UK can watch it live on the BBC iPlayer.

Pre-Match Quotes – Aaron Dundon (Ireland U-20s): “Each week we are starting to see players come out of their shells and show the talent they have. Probably the key thing for us now is making sure that they keep that connection as a team and not work as individuals.

“Don’t lose focus and make sure we keep playing as a team because that is what will bring the best performances.

“It was awesome to train against the Ireland senior squad. Friday was 15 v 15. We had our attack and they had their attack, so we got defence sets and attack sets against them, lineouts, maul.

“We mixed up the players for the scrums, so it was half seniors and half 20s guys. So, they can get some feedback from those senior guys and that’s stuff that we can’t coach.”

Massimo Brunello (Italy U-20s): “We are going to face the most advanced rugby team of this Six Nations, very good from a physical point of view, but certainly the most competent in reading the game.

“For our part, we’re coming off the back of two high-level matches against France and England. We were made to pay for some game management errors that we want and must overcome.

“On Friday evening we will start from the positives we have acquired – defensive solidity, dominant scrum, combative attitude. It won’t be enough to win against Ireland, but they are certainly the basis of our work.

“We will start from this, looking for those added values ​​on which we worked a lot during the week. I am confident in a good performance from the boys, driven on by the home support that we can’t wait to see and hear again.”

Opta Facts – Italy Under-20s v Ireland Under-20s:

– Ireland are unbeaten in their 14 matches against Italy in the U20 Six Nations, winning on 13 occasions and drawing once, back in 2013 (25-25)

– Italy have won two of their last three home games in the U-20 Six Nations, as many as they had won in their previous 29 such matches (D1, L26). Each of their last two home defeats have come by just a single point

– Ireland have won 18 of their 20 fixtures in the U-20 Six Nations since the beginning of 2019 (L2), enjoying a 10-match winning run and a seven-game winning streak during that spell. Before 2019 they had never won more than six on the bounce in the Championship

– Ireland’s only defeats in the U-20 Six Nations since the beginning of 2019 have both come at a neutral venue (v England and France in Cardiff) and they have won their last seven matches as the away team, their longest such run in the Championship

– Only Scotland (95%) have recorded a better scrum success rate in the U-20 Six Nations than Italy (94%), with the Italians winning over twice as many scrum penalties as any other side after the opening two rounds (9)

– Ireland have recorded the best goal-kicking success rate in the U-20 Six Nations this year (81%), slotting 13 of their 16 place-kicks, while Italy have the lowest success rate from the tee (27%)

– Italy have recorded the most possession (61%) and territory (53%) of any team in the U-20 Six Nations this year, while Ireland have made the most carries (267) and recorded the most running metres (1551)

– Ireland are the only team with an average attacking ruck speed under three seconds in this year’s U-20 Six Nations (2.98s), with Italy being the only side with an average attacking ruck speed over four seconds in the Championship (4.73s)

– Ireland’s Sam Prendergast is the top points scorer in the U-20 Six Nations this year (30) and has also provided the joint-most try assists of any player in this year’s Championship (3, also Rekeiti Ma’asi-White). Prendergast is also the only player to have garnered 500 or more kicking metres this year (500 m)

– Italy’s David Odiase has made the joint-most dominant tackles of any player in this year’s U-20 Six Nations (5) and is one of just three players to have made 30-plus carries in this year’s Championship (33), alongside Liam McConnell (34) and Ireland’s Diarmuid Mangan (32)

Recent Meetings –

2019: Under-20 Six Nations: Italy Under-20s 14 Ireland Under-20s 34, Stadio Centro d’Italia, Rieti; World Rugby Under-20 Championship – Pool B: Italy Under-20s 14 Ireland Under-20s 38, Club de Rugby Ateneo Inmaculada, Santa Fe

2021: Under-20 Six Nations: Italy Under-20s 23 Ireland Under-20s 30, Cardiff Arms Park

2022: Under-20 Six Nations: Ireland Under-20s 39 Italy Under-20s 12, Musgrave Park

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