O’Driscoll leads U20s tributes

Ireland Test captain Brian O’Driscoll led the congratulations for the U20s following their famous first win over South Africa at the Junior World Championships.

O’Driscoll, in Auckland to prepare for Ireland’s first Test against New Zealand on Saturday, said: “The news was the talk of the team room when we woke up early this morning to learn the final score. To come away with a win from the hosts of the tournament is a great effort.

“It was inspiring stuff and brought back my own memories of playing for Ireland at underage level and the pride of getting a result for your country at the highest level. While mindful the team have another big match against England this week, it is still a superb win and the whole of the senior squad would like to pass on their congratulations to Niall Scannell, Mike Ruddock and the rest of the squad. We wish them the best next game.”

Opening try scorer Jordan Coghlan, the UCD and Leinster back rower, also earned the praise of another sporting governing body as Cricket Ireland celebrated the dual international’s achievement via their twitter account @irelandcricket. “Massive congrats to former Ireland U19 World Cup Cricketer @JordanCoghlan who starred in Ireland’s U/20 Rugby win over SA,” their tweet read.