Ireland U20 'won’t shy away' from tough French assignment, says Murphy

The Ireland coach noted: "France at this level have over 1,000 professional rugby players at U20 level where we have four or five academy players; it is a very different challenge."

Ireland U20's Head Coach Richie Murphy. Picture INPHO/Ben Brady

Richie Murphy has outlined the scale of the task he feels his Ireland Under-20 squad will face when they take their Six Nations campaign to France in Aix-en-Provence on Friday night.

Head coach Murphy saw his team get off a flying start with an eight-try romp to win 53-5 over Wales at Musgrave Park in Cork last Friday night, a victory all the more impressive given the players had been denied representative rugby at U18 and U19 level due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He was delighted with what he saw in the opening performance, citing the options created by an effective maul and set plays.

“It’s about decision making, being able to pick the right one at the right time,” Murphy said. “I am very happy from a coaching point of view to see that being put out on the pitch. The other thing that I thought was excellent was our phase play, how we built into the game and how effective we were in and around the breakdown.

“We set our stall out from the very first camp of what we wanted but they have come on a great deal since then. We are delighted with what we have seen.” 

 Yet Murphy added: “We know that there are definitely things that we can do better. We will move on to next week with confidence in a good performance but knowing that France is going to be a totally different challenge.

“We haven’t seen France, we will see them from the video (of their 41-15 win at home to Italy). France at this level have over 1,000 professional rugby players at U20 level where we have four or five academy players; it is a very different challenge. These guys won’t shy away from it. We need to tidy up a few things and try and put our best foot forward.” Murphy was confident his players would recover from the knocks they sustained against Wales, including Munster academy full-back Patrick Campbell, whose hometown debut was ended by a thigh injury on 35 minutes and Bristol wing Chay Mullins, who scored two tries before being removed for a Head Injury Assessment.

“Patrick picked up a dead leg. It should be something that should be okay. The HIAs, Chay Mullins was fine after the game. He was disappointed that he failed his HIA but he did and will move onto the second stage of that. Most guys have come through pretty well so we should be able to keep these guys coming into next week and bring back another six or seven guys that are part of our 32.”