Irish under 20's v Italy Thursday 4 November 2010

[Tighty]

The Ireland Under-20 team, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, to face the Italy U-20s has been named by new head coach Mike Ruddock. Thursday's friendly match kicks off at 2.30pm at Donnybrook.

Mike Ruddock has named a starting line-up and an extended replacements bench as he runs the rule over players ahead of the 2011 RBS Under-20 6 Nations Championship.
The selected squad features a number of players who took part in the O2 Challenge - the first rugby match at the Aviva Stadium - back in July.

Ballymena's Luke Marshall, who was named man-of-the-match in that game and recently made his Ulster debut, will start at centre, while Dungannon clubman Paddy Jackson and UCD's Peter du Toit have been paired together at half-back.

Up front, Daniel Qualter from Buccaneers will partner Ian Henderson of Queen's University in the second row.

Lansdowne's Jordi Murphy, who featured in the Ireland Under-20 panel last season, will captain the side from the openside flank.

Indeed, Murphy, his Lansdowne club-mate Martin Moore and UCD hooker David Doyle all played for Ireland at last summer's IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina.

IRELAND UNDER-20 Team & Replacements (v Italy Under-20s, Friendly International Match, Donnybrook, Thursday, November 4, kick-off 2.30pm):


15. Michael Sherlock (Clontarf/Leinster)
14. Craig Gilroy (Dungannon/Ulster)
13. Alex Kelly (UCD/Leinster)
12. Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster)
11. Sam Coghlan Murray (UCD/Leinster)
10. Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster)
9. Peter du Toit (UCD/Leinster)
1. Andrew Warwick (Ballymena/Ulster)
2. David Doyle (UCD/Leinster)
3. Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster)
4. Ian Henderson (Queen's University/Ulster)
5. Daniel Qualter (Buccaneers/Connacht)
6. Michael Kearney (Clontarf/Leinster)
7. Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) (capt)
8. Eoin McKeon (Galwegians/Connacht)

Replacements:


Corey Hircock (Moulton College/Munster)
JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Lukas Kuntz (Garryowen/Munster)
Cathal Marsh (Dublin University/Leinster)
Mark Dolan (Corinthians/Connacht)
Aaron Spring (Sligo/Connacht)
James Rael Garryowen/Munster)
Kyle McCall (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Dominic Gallagher (Dublin University/Ulster)
Shane Buckley (Garryowen/Munster)
David Heffernan (Lansdowne/Leinster

[Jackie Brown]

Where is the token Munsterman?

[backawaygoonahead]

Lukas Kuntz: is that one of the Kuntz from Cork !!

Don't be so childish Youngman......................he plays for UL Bohs - quite clearly one of the Limerick Kuntz

[moondance]

Lukas Kuntz: is that one of the Kuntz from Cork !!

Don't be so childish Youngman......................he plays for UL Bohs - quite clearly one of the Limerick Kuntz

goon, I think your nearest branch of Specsavers is in Bloomfield Shopping Centre - he plays for Garryowen!

Still Limerick though.

[cjp]

Good Ulster representation and thats without Annett, who I believe is to be captain this year, and the injured McKinney.

[backawaygoonahead]

Lukas Kuntz: is that one of the Kuntz from Cork !!

Don't be so childish Youngman......................he plays for UL Bohs - quite clearly one of the Limerick Kuntz

goon, I think your nearest branch of Specsavers is in Bloomfield Shopping Centre - he plays for Garryowen!

Still Limerick though.

Forever in your debt, do you think these suit me?

Reminds me of the time I asked Derek Bevan why he wasn't wearing his Red Wales shirt when reffing Ireland V France the previous day. He grimmaced in as kindly a way as possible and said "actually I was." At least I had the excuse of a gallon & a half of good stout to blame on that occasion.

[kingofthehill]

The boy Andrew boyle was brilliant against Ulster U 20

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

Paddy Jackson i would say is ahead of Mckinney now!!

certainly in an A-Z listing

[Cormac]

Andrew Conway is still available as well i think.
The boy Andrew boyle was brilliant against Ulster U 20 also wonder why he isnt on the bench

Paddy Jackson i would say is ahead of Mckinney now!!

Brendan Macken is also still available but it looks as if they're just selecting the squad from the provinces' U-20 squads. Neither Macken nor Conway featured for Leinster U-20 this season. Was at the Leinster v Munster U-20 game and Boyle picked up a knock late-on in that game when he successfully charged down a conversion. No idea how serious it was but may be the reason he's not selected. Cathal Marsh should be providing Jackson with a lot of competition for his place, superb runner with the ball.

[kingofthehill]

Cathal Marsh is outstanding with ball in hand,great passer, only problem is his kicking lets him down and he is weak in defence.

[cjp]

Where the lads not allowed to play as they were under IRFU procedure of not playing for 12 weeks or something but then somehow Leinster and Munster played a few players yet Ulster then couldn't play McKinney etc.

[cjp]

New Ireland Under-20 coach Mike Ruddock got his tenure off to a solid start, with his charges claiming a 29-10 win over the Italy U-20s in Thursday's friendly international at Donnybrook.Out-half Paddy Jackson's beautifully judged kick-off was taken at full stretch by number 8 Eoin McKeon. From there, Leinster Academy winger Sam Coghlan Murray made the first incision for a gain of ten metres.
Then, a number of phases ended with a wonderful take-and-give from blindside flanker Michael Kearney for Coghlan Murray to stroll in at the corner for the opening try and a superb start from the hosts.

The Ulster 10-12 axis between Jackson and Luke Marshall, who made his Ulster debut last week, gave Ireland two playmakers at the hub of what was a fast, wide and exciting gameplan.

The Italians were forced to live off scraps, but they did come close to breaking their duck when scrum half Guglielmo Palazzani had a shot to nothing from a halfway penalty.

He missed that attempt, before quickly made amends when Irish prop Martin Moore was spotted in an offside position in the 14th minute.

This put some pep in the Italian step. They used their big forwards to make short yards with out-half Augusto Cosulich the fulcrum as they drove hard into the midfield.

However, as the rain started to fall, the Italians' error count increased and the conditions played to the advantage of a powerful Irish scrum which drove the visitors back metres at a time.

A pacy in-and-out counter from Coghlan Murray was taken on by hooker David Doyle, bouncing to his feet when he was not held in the tackle. The recycle came for Jackson and Alex Kelly to send Luke Marshall over for a 24th minute try.

Then, a huge hit by McKeon on Cosulich shook the ball free. Not content to hoof the ball upfield, Marshall saw the opportunity to move it right for centre Kelly to travel 80 metres for Ireland's third try with Coghlan Murray for company just in case he was needed. Jackson missed his third straight conversion, all from near the touchline.

When full-back Giovanni Alberghini nudged Italy within five metres of the Irish line with a perfectly-weighted kick, the call came for hooker Doyle to throw to the tail of the lineout in what could best be described as a high risk option.

Sure enough, the ball was too long and loosehead prop Nicola Quaglio seized on it to plunge for the line. Palazzani added the extras.

The door back into the match was immediately slammed in the visitors faces when Kelly offloaded slickly off the floor for Coghlan Murray to set off on a trademark surge that took him around two defenders and over for his second try. Jackson's successful conversion gave Ireland a 22-10 lead.

The tremendous impact of blindside flanker Michael Kearney put Ireland on the front foot again, allowing McKeown to combine sweetly with his Connacht colleague Daniel Qualter for a terrific team try on the half-time whistle, Jackson converting for a 29-10 advantage.

A multitude of replacements at half-time and shortly thereafter combined with the difficult handling conditions prompted a lull in the pace of the game.

The general grind suited the visitors' more pedestrian style of play with a brand new front row in place and their blindside flanker Andrea Balsemin taking the ball on regularly.

The pick-and-drive became Italy's greatest weapon as the weather worsened. They managed to camp in the Irish 22 until lock Cesare Berton was shunted backwards by a double tackle. The stalemate continued as Ireland could not break free of their half.

It ended for Mike Ruddock's side as an exercise in defence. The Irish used their intelligence to double team the bulkier Italians in the tackle area around the fringes, with hard-working captain Jordi Murphy leading the resistance.

[Ardglass2]

The more I see and read the more I can't help wondering will we be able to maintain a strong set of forwards by the time
Porter, Jackson, Marshall, Spence and Gilroy are ready to play week in week out.

We do have some genuine prospects in the backs coming through

[backawaygoonahead]

The more I see and read the more I can't help wondering will we be able to maintain a strong set of forwards by the time
Porter, Jackson, Marshall, Spence and Gilroy are ready to play week in week out.

We do have some genuine prospects in the backs coming through

Lets hope that if they are the real deal they can force their way in over the next year or so. That of course relies on somebody giving them game time, at the right time