A combination of Ryan Baird's 21st-minute red card and a luckless spate of injuries left the Ireland Under-20s exposed down the final stretch as Australia ruthlessly took advantage to claim a 45-17 bonus point win in Santa Fe.

Ireland head coach Noel McNamara has been forced to make two changes for tomorrow's World Rugby under-20 Championship match against Australia.

Captain Charlie Ryan praised the collective efforts of his Ireland Under-20 side as they repeated their Six Nations heroics with a brilliant 42-26 bonus point win over England on the opening day of the World Rugby U-20 Championship in Santa Fe.

Ireland U20s coach Noel McNamara insists his full focus is on the upcoming Junior World Cup despite suggestions that he could be a possible candidate for a role with Munster under Johann van Graan.

The party will be whittled down to 28 before departure for Santa Fe, via Amsterdam and Buenos Aires. Ireland face England, Australia and Italy in their pool: a tough task.

Both Leinster and Ulster have named their teams ahead of their clash tomorrow at the Kingspan stadium.

Dan McFarland has made three changes as Ulster bid to get back to winning ways away to Edinburgh.

Rhys Ruddock will captain the Leinster Rugby team taking on Ulster tomorrow, while Johnny Sexton has been ruled out following an injury.

The Ireland U20s were not long celebrating their remarkable Six Nations Grand Slam before the demands of the rest of the season kicked back in and they had gone their separate ways.

Over 5,500 tickets have been sold for the game at Musgrave Park, which kicks off at 7:15pm on Friday night.

Despite being odds-on favourites to extend their winning start to the Six Nations, Ireland U20s scrum coach Ambrose Conboy believes the biggest physical test of the tournament awaits them in Rieti this evening [kick-off 6pm, Irish time].

After missing out on last week’s open training session at the Aviva Stadium, Ireland U20 winger Jonathan Wren is back in harness for tomorrow night’s Six Nations showdown against Italy (kick-off 6pm, Irish time).

Billy Scannell, the younger brother of internationals Niall and Rory, will be looking to make his first U20 cap on Friday.

Ulster have been given a boost ahead of their PRO14 encounter against Ospreys with the return of Iain Henderson from injury.

Ulster’s attack coach Dwayne Peel believes that the famous ‘Ravenhill Roar’ will have a huge role to play in the province’s must-win European clash with Racing 92 in Belfast on Saturday.

Connacht have only managed to do the double over an Irish province on one occasion, but victory at the Sportsground this evening (7.35pm) against Ulster would help soften the blow of not putting Leinster away last weekend.

Munster overwhelmed an under-strength Ulster as they ran in nine tries in a record-breaking 64-7 Guinness PRO14 derby victory at Thomond Park.

The Ireland Under-20s suffered an alarming collapse in the final quarter of their final U-20 Six Nations game as England ran riot.

There are nine new caps in the Ireland Under-20 team for their Six Nations opener against France on Friday.