Clarkson ready to hit top gear in Slam chance

Size isn’t everything. Generations of Irish forwards have learned that much. The faces may change on an annual basis but the boys that go about their business for the national U20 side know chances are they will be giving away a fair few inches and pounds to their counterparts time and again.

England and France routinely bring more beef to the table and Italy and Wales can be regularly counted on to weigh in with an extra few kilos. Seeing Thomas Clarkson walk into a room only highlights the reality for this year’s crop. Clarkson is listed generously as 6ft 1in on the IRFU’s website. His weight reads as 16st 6lbs. Let’s just say that he’s not the biggest of tighthead props and, even if we take the union’s height charts at face value, he still comes up light against England’s Marcus Street and France’s Alex Buron. Both tightheads have well over a stone on him.