Elwood makes two changes as Ireland U20s ready for Wales

IRELAND Under-20 coach Eric Elwood has made two changes from the side that beat Scotland for tomorrow night’s clash with Wales at Dubarry Park (RTÉ Two, 7.30pm).

Towering second row James Sandford — who won an Irish Examiner National Junior Sports Star last week — is injured with David Nolan, moving up from the replacements. Local Buccaneers boy Trevor Connelly will take the vacancy on the bench left by Nolan.

Conor Cleary also moves from the replacements to inside centre, with Eamonn Sheridan moving to the bench. Elwood said: “The last game started very well for us and we really hit a rhythm in all aspects of our play and Scotland were on the back foot in the first half. We were all a little bit disappointed that we did not kick on from there after the break, but as I said before the game, Scotland are a very good side and began to come back into the game in the second half. We dug deep and closed out the win, which was another positive aspect, but overall I was happy with how the guys responded. We have lost James (Sandford) to injury, but David (Nolan) is a readymade replacement for him, so I do not see any issues in that department. With regard to the change in the centre, we thought that Conor Cleary might offer us something a little bit different for Friday night. This game is another jump up again in terms of the level of opposition as Wales have won two on the bounce and been impressive in beating Scotland and Italy, so I think we will need a disciplined 80 minutes if we are to get a win on Friday night”.