Shoulder injury ends Jack Dwan’s tournament
He will miss Ireland’s bid for a first win over New Zealand tomorrow night as Nigel Carolan’s side bid to reach the semi-finals for the second year in a row.
Ireland coach Carolan has drafted Ulster hooker Adam McBurney as a replacement in an effort to extend options for the remaining three games in the tournament.
The 18-year old Ballymena clubman is the third member of the standby squad to be drafted in, with Cork pair Tomas Quinlan and Liam O’Connor both making their debuts after late call-ups.
Meanwhile, Irish tighthead Oisín Heffernan will hope they can go one better than last year’s third-place finish when they were beaten 45-23 by New Zealand, having led for long periods.
Along with captain Nick McCarthy, he has played every game since making his U20 debut in the 2014 Six Nations and tomorrow night the pair will win their 17th cap in this grade. His move to Cistercian College in Roscrea — a decision influenced as much by rugby as academics — saw him hooked into the Leinster system and after representing them at schools he has since been brought into their academy system.
“When I was in Roscrea I played a stint at underage for Connacht but then I got into the Leinster U18 schools and I haven’t looked back since.”
They ran New Zealand close in the first half of last year’s semi-final but then the Baby Blacks romped home in the second-half.
“Last year we were so close,” Heffernan said. “We were leading at half time. It was just the last 20 minutes when they stepped it up a gear and I thought that we just didn’t have the intensity after having three hard group games to qualify for the semi-final.
“This year it is the third game so we are still a bit fresher. Maybe not the freshest but we are fresher, there is a lot left in the tank and we are going to give it our all to stay in it for a full 80 minutes.”
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