Ireland U20s v France U20s
Following a disappointing result on the last day out against Wales, Ireland is seeking a return to winning ways against France in the fourth round of the under-20 Six Nations Championship at Virgin Media Park in Cork on Friday evening (kick-off 8pm).
After responding to an opening day reversal to defending champions England at the Leeside venue with a 33-15 bonus point triumph away to Scotland, Ireland subsequently fell to a 20-12 reversal at the hands of the Welsh in Newport.
This leaves them fourth in the standings in advance of their meeting with the French – who are three points adrift of pacesetters England in second spot. While he has seen signs of encouragement thus far in the tournament, Ireland head coach Neil Doak said his side will need to push for an 80-minute performance on home soil.
Are France better at developing young players than Ireland?
“That’s the biggest challenge. When you’re working with a young group of players, you know that you’re going to get a little bit of inconsistency. They don’t have the experience and the exposure to fall back on. Some of them are straight out of school and playing in top schools. Sometimes it can be quite easy,” Doak explained.
“When you get into [an] international, it’s a different kettle of fish. There’s bigger guys against you and quicker guys. You actually have to use your intelligence, use the strategies that we’ve been working on.
“It’s key that we work our socks off for 80 minutes this week. We’ve had the most entries in the 22 throughout the tournament but, unfortunately, we haven’t picked up the points through various reasons.”
In the wake of their disappointing eight-point loss to Wales, Doak has opted to make five changes to his starting line-up for what will be Ireland’s final home game of the campaign. Among those to come into the side is Munster and Garryowen outhalf Tom Wood – son of legendary former Ireland international Keith Wood.
After making his international debut at this age grade as a replacement in the Welsh game, Doak believes Wood has earned the right to start alongside scrumhalf Will Wootton.
“I was fortunate enough to work with Tom in the last year with Irish under-18s. I’ve a pretty decent understanding of what his game is about. He’s settling well into the squad and settled into training. I think he’s looking forward to getting his teeth into Friday night’s game,” Doak added.
Ireland: D Green; C Molony, G O’Leary Kareem, E Smyth, C Mangan; T Wood, W Wootton; B Bohan, M Yarr, A Mullan; M Ronan, B Corrigan; M Foy, B Power, E McCarthy. Replacements: H Walker, P Moore, T McAllister, C Kennelly, D Walsh, C Logan, S Wisniewski, C Fahy.
France: J Echegaray; T Leveque, S Daunivucu, F Brau-Boirie, N Donguy; L Keletaona, B Tilloles; S Jean-Christophe, L Akrab, M Megherbi; B Sanson, C Mezou; A Deliance, N Traversier, B Britz. Replacements: Q Algay, E-J Jabea Njocke, J-Y Liufau, J Nguimbous, S Tolofua, S Daroque, J Cotarmanac’h, Ó Cowie.
