Argentina provide the opposition in the Ireland Under-20s’ first match of the 2015 World Rugby U-20 Championship as Nigel Carolan’s youngsters look to build some early momentum in Parma.
2015 WORLD RUGBY UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP – POOL C: Tuesday, June 2
IRELAND UNDER-20s v ARGENTINA UNDER-20s, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma, 4.30pm local time/3.30pm Irish time (live TG4/TG4 Player/ESPN/highlights BT Sport 2 (Wednesday, 10am))
Team News: The Ireland Under-20s, sponsored by PwC, begin their World Rugby U-20 Championship campaign against Argentina on Tuesday, and head coach Nigel Carolan has selected a strong team for the Pool C opener in Parma.
Joey Carbery will make his first start after four appearances off the bench during the Under-20 RBS 6 Nations. He takes over the out-half role vacated by his UCD and Leinster colleague Ross Byrne, who misses the tournament due to a back injury, with captain Nick McCarthy winning his 16th cap at scrum half
Carbery’s inclusion is one of two changes to the back-line that started Ireland’s last competitive game away to Scotland in March. Ciaran Gaffney picked up an ankle injury during the Captain’s Run so, in a late switch, Jacob Stockdale will start on the right wing with Fergal Cleary added to the bench.
Up front, there are two alterations with prop Oisin Heffernan (15 caps) and flanker Rory Moloney (9 caps) – two players who gained experience in last summer’s Junior World Championship in New Zealand – both earning starting spots.
Charlie Rock and fellow uncapped half-back Tomás Quinlan, Byrne’s replacement in the squad, could make their Ireland U-20 debuts off the bench, while fit-again hooker Sean McNulty, who played in the 2014 U-20 RBS 6 Nations, is back in the matchday squad.
Seven of the extended squad have previous U-20 Championship experience having played in the 2014 competition where Ireland finished fourth overall – Billy Dardis, Gaffney, Heffernan, skipper McCarthy, Moloney, Josh Murphy and Garry Ringrose.
Speaking ahead of the opening game which will be broadcast live on TG4, centre Ringrose said: “Argentina up first, they’ll be a physical side like any Argentinian team, very set piece orientated. It’s a huge challenge and we’re not going to look too far ahead (to Scotland and New Zealand).
“We’re just focusing on Argentina and hopefully we can get the ball rolling on Tuesday. If we get a good start similar to the Six Nations, hopefully we’ve learnt from the Six Nations and can carry on from there.”
Meanwhile, Argentina boss Nicolás Fernández Lobbe has nine players back from last year’s tournament – captain Bautista Ezcurra, Ignacio Calles, Vittorio Rosti, Ignacio Larrague, José Deheza, Lautaro Bazán Vélez, Domingo Miotti, Tomás Granella and Emiliano Boffelli.
Los Pumitas, who are ranked ninth overall, had two recent warm-up games against South Africa, losing 39-28 in Rosario and 25-22 in Santa Fe, and their head coach feels they are ‘well prepared’ for what he feels will be a ‘tough’ opening clash with Ireland.
Inside centre and skipper Ezcurra has been marked out as a player to watch. He played for the Pampas XV against the touring USA Select side earlier this year. His older brother Felipe captained the Argentina U-20s two years ago and has already made the step up to Test rugby.
World Rugby U-20 Championship Fixtures
IRELAND U-20: Billy Dardis (UCD/Leinster); Jacob Stockdale (Queen’s University Belfast/Ulster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Sam Arnold (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Stephen Fitzgerald (Shannon/Munster); Joey Carbery (UCD/Leinster), Nick McCarthy (UCD/Leinster) (capt); Jeremy Loughman (UCD/Leinster), Zack McCall (Queen’s University Belfast/Ulster), Oisin Heffernan (Terenure College/Leinster), David O’Connor (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Alex Thompson (Queen’s University Belfast/Ulster), Josh Murphy (UCD/Leinster), Rory Moloney (Buccaneers/Connacht), Lorcan Dow (Queen’s University Belfast/Ulster).
Replacements: Sean McNulty (UCD/Leinster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Conan O’Donnell (Sligo/NUIG/Connacht), Jack Dwan (UCD/Leinster), Nick Timoney (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Charlie Rock (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Tomás Quinlan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Fergal Cleary (Lansdowne/Leinster).
ARGENTINA U-20: Emiliano Boffelli (Duendes RC/Rosario); Eugenio Achilli (Urú Curé/Cordobesa), Tomás Granella (Liceo RC/Cuyo), Bautista Ezcurra (Hindú Club/URBA) (capt), Santiago Resino (Universitario/Tucumán); Domingo Miotti (Tucumán Lawn Tennis/Tucumán), Lautaro Bazán Vélez (Córdoba Athletic/Cordobesa); Javier Díaz (Natación y Gimnasia/Tucumán), Ignacio Calles (Liceo Naval/URBA), Cristian Bartoloni (Pucará/URBA), Vittorio Rosti (Duendes RC/Rosario), Ignacio Larrague (CASI/URBA), José Deheza (Jockey Club/Cordobesa), Lucas Gasparri (Sporting/Mar del Plata), Ernesto Olmedo (La Tablada/Cordobesa).
Replacements: Gaspar Baldunciel (Asociación Alumni/URBA), Nicolás Ocello (Olivos RC/URBA), Eduardo Bello (Atlético del Rosario/URBA), Ignacio Calas (La Tablada/Cordobesa), Santiago Portillo (Los Tarcos/Tucumán), Patricio Baronio (Jockey Club/Rosario), Ignacio Albornoz (Tucumán RC/Tucumán), Juan Cruz Mallía (Jockey Club/Cordobesa).
Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Will Houston (Australia), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ireland U-20s to win: 1/5; Draw: 22/1; Argentina U-20s to win: 10/3
Pre-Match Quotes – Nigel Carolan (Ireland U-20s): “The World Championship is essentially five games in three weeks whereas during the Six Nations we had five games over two months. It’s very condensed, very intense.
“There’s very little training time on the pitch between games, so it’s important that we’re very specific in what we do and what we need to achieve. We’re going to rely on those players that have that experience (from last year) to be able to carry out the game-plan that we put in place.
“We found that in the Six Nations, we can’t coach everything. We can’t coach all aspects of the technical detail that might be required. Certainly in the areas that we’re falling down on – there are small margins. There are a lot of handling errors, missed tackles but we don’t have the time to work on that. There’s an expectation on players who are at a certain level.”
Nick McCarthy (Ireland U-20s): “We’ve prepared well. We had a good (warm-up) test against France where 28 players got some game-time. Argentina (our first opponents) are a good side, they had two close games against South Africa, so it’s going to be a massive challenge but we’re looking forward to it.”
Pre-Match Links –
World Rugby Under-20 Championship – Pool C Preview
World Rugby Under-20 Championship Is Launched In Milan
Recent Meetings –
2009: IRB Junior World Championship – Pool A: Argentina-20s 9 Ireland Under-20s 16, Mizuho Sports Park, Nagoya
2010: IRB Junior World Championship – Pool B: Argentina U-20s 24 Ireland U-20s 21, Estadio El Coloso del Parque, Rosario
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