Ireland U-20 Team to play Italy unveiled

The Ireland U-20 team has been named for their first play-off game against Italy in Cardiff on Wednesday evening in this year’s IRB Junior World Championship.

Coach, Eric Elwood has made a single change to the side that defeated Tonga U-20’s, 45 - 27 on Saturday with Stephen Archer being promoted from the bench to the number 3 jersey with Ben Barclay reverting to the bench.

Commenting the tournament to date, Eric Elwood said,” We had a disappointing start to the tournament, but we can take some great positives from the way the boys have played individually and as a team throughout.

"We knew coming into this competition we had some tough battles ahead of us and even though we didn’t get the result we would have liked, the boys gained valuable experience which will stand to us in the playoffs. We are focused on winning both remaining games to finish in ninth position to ensure a good seeding for next year.”

The Ireland U-20 team to play Italy in the IRB Junior World Championship on Wednesday June 17 in the Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff is as follows:

Player:

15 - Niall Morris (Blackrock College/Leinster)

14 - David Kearney (Lansdowne/ Leinster)

13 - Eoin O’Malley (Old Belvedere/Leinster)

12 - Conor Cleary (Greystones/Leinster)

11 - Chris Cochrane (QUB/Ulster)

10 - Martin Dufficy (Dublin University/Leinster)

9. - Ian Porter (QUB/Ulster)

1- Paul Karayiannis (QUB/Ulster)

2 - Jason Harris-Wright (Greystones/Leinster)

3 - Stephen Archer (UCC/Munster)

4 - Ian Nagle (UCC/Munster)

5 - Eoin Sheriff (Lansdowne/Leinster)

6 - Kieran Essex (UL Bohemian/Munster)

7 - Paul Ryan, Captain (Blackrock College/Leinster)

8 - Patrick Mallon (Lansdowne/Leinster)

Replacements:

16- Stephen Douglas (Ballymena/Ulster)

17- Ben Barclay (UCD/ Leinster)

18- James Sandford (Queens/ Ulster)

19 -Michael Entwistle (Ballymena/Ulster)

20 - David Moore (Blackrock College/Leinster)

21 -Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)

22 - Eamon Sheridan (Lansdowne/Leinster)