Ireland camp in shock at tragedy in Greece

SHOCK: Ireland head coach Richie Murphy. Pic: Thinus Maritz/Sportsfile

Ireland Under-20s boss Richie Murphy was referring to the change in venue and compressed nature of this World Rugby U20 Championship when he stressed the need for his squad to be adaptable on the eve of their final pool match against Fiji in Stellenbosch on Tuesday (12:30pm Irish time).

Yet it is dealing with the tragic turn of events on a Greek island over the weekend that will provide the greatest mental challenge for his young charges as the Six Nations Grand Slam winners seek the victory that will secure their ambition of a place in the semi-finals.

Ireland will wear black armbands at Danie Craven Stadium on Tuesday as they pay their respects to the two Dublin teenagers who died on the island of Ios over the weekend.

Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall, both 18, had been on a Leaving Cert holiday with school friends from St Michael’s College when Andrew went missing on Friday and following an intensive search, his remains were found near a cliff on the island on Sunday. It is understood he may have fallen. On the same day, Max fell ill near the port area of the island and was rushed to hospital where he passed away.

Both had recently graduated from the south Dublin school, where six members of the Ireland U20s squad currently in South Africa had also attended and head coach Murphy and his management group have been providing emotional support to players he described on Monday as being in shock.

“I think the guys are definitely in a little bit of shock, very devastated (about) what's happened,” Murphy said. “I think that's through the whole squad. Obviously these (St Michael’s) guys know the young boys a lot better than some of the other members.

“Everyone is in the same sort of position where it's shock. We've our doctor on hand, he's looking after the guys. We've had a number of conversations with a couple of them and the guys were obviously very upset yesterday but definitely feeling a little bit better today and probably, not come to terms with it, but clarified what's happening in their heads.” 

Head coach Murphy had earlier made a statement on behalf of the squad ahead of a pre-match media conference and said: “It’s a really tough time. Obviously, we are massively devastated to hear of the passing of Max Wall and Andrew O’Donnell, two boys from St Michael’s.

“We have a number St Michael’s guys here in the squad, who know them well, and as a father of kids around that age and an Irishman I feel really devastated for them and we’d like to offer our condolences to the Wall and O’Donnell family.” 

Murphy was also asked about World Rugby’s decision to switch Tuesday’s match venue from the waterlogged Paarl Gymnasium, where Ireland had waded through an opening round pool draw with England and then a victory over Australia which kept their campaign alive going into this final group fixture against a still winless Fijian side. His response developed into a more general but extremely pertinent analysis of the challenges that lie ahead for his players.

“I think that you come to tournaments like this and when it comes to training, five-day turnarounds, changing venues, you have to be adaptable and we've talked about this all the way through the season, not just the World Cup.

“Our ability to adapt. Our ability to learn faster than the team we're playing. This is just part of a young rugby player's development.

“It's a really good test for them if they can park the bits and pieces that are going on in their lives in relation to changing venues and go out and give a performance on the pitch.” 

Murphy is expecting a drier, faster track in Stellenbosch that should suit his team’s ambitious, running gameplan but also plays into the hands of the Fijians, for whom this match will be their third at Danie Craven Stadium following a 46-37 defeat to the Junior Wallabies and a 52-3 hammering by the English, who top the pool going into the final round.

“We're hoping we won't be playing in a mudheap. We've seen Danie Craven, we haven't been there. We've seen the stadium on TV. Obviously, Fiji have played two of their games there so it's probably a little bit of an advantage for them in relation to that.

“The pitch seems to be a hell of a lot drier which I think will have a decent effect on us. It'll give us a little bit of a bounce to be not trawling through that heavy, heavy surface that's in Paarl. We're looking forward to getting there. We'll get there 90 minutes before kick-off and go out and have a look around.” 

Murphy, who will be without the suspended James McNabney, Rory Telfer and Hugh Cooney, had opted for rotation in his selection for this third and final pool game but was forced to be adaptable himself when he lost selected full-back Harry West to a training ground injury and was forced to reinstate regular No.15 Henry McErlean, whose place on the bench as an outside backs replacement is taken by Hugh Gavin.

Murphy has called up Shannon and Munster wing Josh Costello to replace West in the squad.

“It’s a case of needs must,” Murphy said. “We’ve been playing pretty tough fixtures over a five-day turnaround on a very, very heavy pitch.

“So we’re in a position where we felt we needed to rotate the squad. We’ve brought 30 players that we were confident were able to fit into our team and were able to play the game at the level we needed to play it.

“Our focus was very much to make quite a number of changes in this round and in order to, one, we obviously have to win the game but if we win the game we know that we’re getting into a semi-final and that’s very much the focus.” 

IRELAND U20: H McErlean (Leinster); J Nicholson (Leinster), S Berman (Leinster), J Devine (Connacht), A Osborne (Leinster); M Lynch (Leinster), O Cawley (Leinster); G Hadden (Leinster), D Sheahan (Munster), F Barrett (Connacht), E O'Connell (Munster), J Hopes (Ulster); D Mangan (Leinster) – captain, D Barron (Leinster), B Gleeson (Munster).

Replacements: M Clein (Munster), G Morris (Leinster), R Foxe (Leinster), C Irvine (Ulster), G McCarthy (Leinster), J Oliver (Munster), S Prendergast (Leinster), H Gavin (Connacht).

FIJI: P Wagalala; S Masiwini, W Nalaga, P Finau, M Navonovono; I Ravula, P Baselala; M McGoon, J Nainoca, B Legge; M Vocevoce, N May; T Nakalevu, M Murray – captain, J Suamaisue.

Replacements: J Kina, M Toga, L Vuluma, S Tokitani, S Nalasi, Z Kama, F Ralogaivau, N Saukuru.

Referee: Morne Ferreira (South Africa).