Carolan in a happy place and ready for huge England battle

No defeats. No injuries. No changes. Ireland U20s coach Nigel Carolan finds himself in quite the enviable position.

Yesterday brought confirmation of an unaltered side from the one that accounted for France, ahead of tomorrow’s Six Nations encounter with England on Donnybrook’s 4G pitch.

The surprise-value of that was nil. Ireland pierced the French try line four times in a 37-20 win. to add to an even more convincing start in Italy. But Carolan was in the cautionary mode typical of coaches in public.

“We are in a good place mid-tournament with two wins from two. While the display against France was pleasing, the English side will bring a huge amount of physicality with them so we know the challenge we face.”

Leinster loosehead Jeremy Loughman was the only injury concern earlier in the week – a remarkable state of affairs given the attritional nature of the game even at that level – but his issues have seemingly dissipated.

Ireland’s unbeaten start has fanned the flames of expectation that accompanied this team into the competition and the game will attract all the more attention given it is being played on Donnybrook’s new artificial surface.

“I’ve played there once or twice for Leinster ‘A’s and the team has trained there a few times as well,” said captain and scrum-half Nick McCarthy. “We’ve trained on the Lansdowne (back) pitch as well so we are used to it. I think it will suit our team because we’ve got good fast backs out wide.”

IRELAND U20s (v England): B Dardis; J Owens, G Ringrose, S Arnold, S Fitzgerald; R Byrne, N McCarthy; J Loughman, Z McCall, O Heffernan; D O’Connor, A Thompson; J Murphy, R Moloney, L Dow.