It might be a good omen but, for the first time since they arrived in France on Saturday, there was warm sunshine and pool weather yesterday for the Irish U20 squad as they recovered from the bruising encounter with the hosts the previous night.

Ireland begin their Pool C campaign against hosts France in Perpignan next Wednesday.

A year which began with a frustrating hamstring injury which sidelined him for four months has taken a massive upward swing for newly appointed Irish U20 captain Caelan Doris.

A stirring second-half fightback from the Ireland Under-20s fell short as fortune favoured France in a 34-24 Six Nations win for the hosts in Bordeaux.

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