Five Ireland players to watch at the World Rugby U20 Championship
With Wales and Scotland covered ahead of the World Rugby U20 Championship, we now take a look across the Irish sea to assess the last remaining Celtic nation, Ireland.
The U20 Six Nations was a mixed bag for Ireland who struggled for consistency, but they did identify some key combinations and contributors ahead of their tournament opener next week, when they will meet France, before also taking on Georgia and South Africa in Pool C.
Caelan Doris, Leinster
A veteran of last year’s tournament and the captain of the side, Doris is the logical place to start in this Ireland squad that has been hamstrung by injuries.
Fellow number eights Zach Mercer and Juarno Augustus were two of the prominent stories of the U20 Championship last season but Doris was not far behind them and with another year of experience and development under his belt, this could be the summer when he arrives on the global rugby scene.
His carrying ability will be crucial for Ireland and he has the physical ability to make the hard yards around the fringes, but also the speed and footwork to make people miss and exploit gaps in defences away from the rucks.
Matthew Dalton, Ulster
The lone non-Leinster player in this shortlist, which is both a nod to how productive the Leinster pathway currently is, but also what an impressive player that Dalton is becoming.
Either a mobile second-row or a powerful blindside flanker, Dalton will have to provide Ireland with the go forward that they have lost with strong carriers Jack O’Sullivan and Ronan Kelleher missing the tournament with injuries.
A spot on the blindside would not only free up Dalton to roam a little more and bring his carrying to the fore, it would also open a slot in the engine room for Charlie Ryan, who was eased into U20 rugby from the bench during the Six Nations.
Harry Byrne, Leinster
The younger brother of Leinster fly-half Ross Byrne, Harry was one of the bright spots for Ireland during the U20 Six Nations.
He doesn’t yet have the same control at 10 that his older brother does, but he reads the game well and sees attacking opportunities quickly in the scenarios that defences present him. He is, in fact, a very similar player to the one Ross was a couple of years ago when we saw him at this level.
With Angus Curtis missing the tournament with injury, Byrne has lost a secondary playmaker pressure valve outside of him and this will be a stern test of Byrne’s ability to pull the strings in a back line, as well as manage field position and the decision-making involved in that.
Jack Aungier, Leinster
Losing Ulster tighthead Tom O’Toole to injury is only going to add pressure on Aungier to perform over the next few weeks. Thankfully, he’s the latest in a growing line of very adept Irish tightheads coming through at this level.
Between Aungier and O’Toole, Ireland’s one-two punch at the fulcrum of the scrum would have been one of their biggest weapons in France, but instead, Ireland’s rotation policy is likely to be a little less prominent as a result and a lot physically will be asked of the Leinster man.
His scrummaging, unsurprisingly, is his biggest strength and though he is unlikely to rip off too many rampaging runs through opposition defences, he will provide Ireland with a physical carrying presence around the fringes.
Tommy O’Brien, Leinster
Like Doris, O’Brien is another remnant of Ireland’s 2017 squad, although he did miss the U20 Championship last summer due to injury, so this will be his first taste of the tournament.
The centre captained Ireland during the U20 Six Nations, with Doris absent through injury, and though the armband returns to Doris in France, O’Brien will be an important leader in the back line, particularly with Curtis also missing.
Comfortable at both 12 and 13, O’Brien may find himself brought in to inside centre to help Byrne and keep Ireland moving forward over the next few weeks, but if he can find space in the wider channels, look for him to challenge defences with his pace, hard lines and eye for a gap.
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Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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