Ireland U20 Head Coach Noel McNamara has confirmed the starting XV to take on Italy tomorrow in his side’s final Pool B game of the World Rugby U20 World Championships.
The game takes place at the Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada in Santa Fe, kicking off at 2.30pm (Irish time), 10.30am (local).
The side, sponsored by PwC, sees a number of changes from the side that lost out to Australia on Saturday.
There are seven Munster players named in the squad – Jake Flannery, Ben Healy, Josh Wycherley, Thomas Ahern all start with Craig Casey and Jonathan Wren included among the replacements, while Shannon’s Luke Clohessy is set for his first Ireland U20 cap off the bench.
In the front-row, Wycherley start alongside John McKee and Michael Milne.
Ahern comes into the second-row alongside Ryan Baird.
The back-row consists of David McCann, Ciaran Booth and Azur Allison.
Colm Reilly starts at scrum-half alongside Healy who lines out at out-half.
Cormac Foley is named at centre alongside Liam Turner who will captain the side.
The back-three sees Rob Russell and Angus Kernohan on the wings, with Jake Flannery at full-back.
John Hodnett (knee) and Stewart Moore (shoulder) have returned home due to injury and are replaced in the squad by Clohessy and UCD’s David Ryan and they are named amongst the replacements.
Ronan Watters is following return to play protocols after a head injury sustained against Australia and is therefore not available for selection for tomorrow’s game.
Ahead of the final Pool game, McNamara said;
“We are proud of the effort the players put in on Saturday against Australia given the circumstances, and the character they showed throughout the contest has to be commended. We have no doubt that they will dig deep again on Wednesday against the Italians.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, Italy have been, and are a very good side and they showed that against England on Saturday. They have been consistently competitive at this tournament over the last number of years.
The players are excited about the opportunity to get back out to play, and the focus is entirely on delivering a performance”.
Ireland U20 v Itay U20, World Rugby U20 World Championship, Pool B, (Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada, Santa Fe, Wednesday 12 June, 2.30pm (Irish time), 10.30am (local).
15. Jake Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
14. Angus Kernohan (Queen’s University/Ulster)
13. Liam Turner (Dublin University/Leinster) Captain
12. Cormac Foley (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
11. Rob Russell (Dublin University/Leinster)
10. Ben Healy (Garryowen/Munster)
9. Colm Reilly (Buccaneers/Connacht)
1. Josh Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster)
2. John McKee (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
3. Michael Milne (UCD/Leinster)
4. Thomas Ahern (Shannon/Munster)
5. Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)
6. David McCann (Banbridge/Ulster)
7. Ciaran Booth (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby)
8. Azur Allison (Ballymena/Ulster)
Replacements:
16. Declan Adamson (Clontarf/Leinster)
17. Tom Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)
18. Charlie Ward (Clontarf/Leinster)
19. Dylan Tierney-Martin (Corinthians/Connacht)
20. Charlie Ryan (UCD/Leinster)
21. Niall Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)
22. Luke Clohessy (Shannon/Munster) *
24. Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)
25. Jonathan Wren (Cork Constitution/Munster)
26. David Ryan (UCD/Leinster) *
27. Aaron O’Sullivan (UCD/Leinster) *
28. Max O’Reilly (Dublin University/Leinster) *
*Denotes uncapped at this level
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge (SARU)
Ireland U20 World Rugby U20 Championships Fixtures and Results
Pool A
Ireland 42 – 26 England
Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada, Santa Fe
Tuesday 4th June 2019
Australia 45 – 17 Ireland
Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada, Santa Fe
Saturday 8th June, 2019
Italy v Ireland
Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada, Santa Fe
Wednesday 12th June, 2019
KO: 10:30 (local) / 14:30 (Irish)
Semi-Finals / Play-Offs
Racecourse Stadium, Rosario OR Club Old Resian, Rosario
Monday 17th June 2019
Finals Day
Racecourse Stadium, Rosario / Club Old Resian, Rosario
Sunday 22nd June 2019