Ireland rising son primed to face Japan do or die

The World Rugby U20 Championship has been horrendous for Ireland but one of the few bright sparks has been the emergence of Jack Daly, the latest to come off the remarkable Currow conveyor belt in Kerry.

Daly made his Irish debut against Georgia and crowned his second appearance with a try against Scotland. He is following in the footsteps of the likes of Mick and Tom Doyle, Moss Keane, Mick Galwey and current Munster players JJ Hanrahan and Seán McCarthy.

And Daly is hoping to follow the latter pair. “I would have known them well enough. They are both a bit older than I was. I was senior infants when Seán was in sixth class. I would have known of him.

“They are both good lads and seriously talented rugby players. I have a bit of line there to follow if it all works out,” said Daly, who is heading into the Munster academy next season.

He featured for Castleisland and has now joined Garryowen after moving to Limerick to study Psychology and History at UL.

“It was very enjoyable with Castleisland, we are J2 club and it was difficult to leave them. Hopefully I stay injury-free and just continue to make progress. I was happy with what I did in the sub-academy and had hoped to make the Six Nations squad.”

The task facing Ireland tomorrow is quite clear, a defeat to Japan and they will be relegated to the World Trophy next year and will not participate for the first time since this tournament started in 2008.