Ireland U20s 6 Nations Squad

Scary amount of Leinster players from just 2 clubs.....

Ruddock coaches one of them though.

Also. 2 focking Ulster players? where is the talent factory? Having an off year?

Will youse lads start pulling your own weight ffs

Harrison Brewer (Terenure College RFC - LEINSTER)

Ross Byrne (UCD RFC - LEINSTER)
Adam Byrne (UCD RFC - LEINSTER)
William Dardis (UCD RFC- LEINSTER)
Dan Leavy (UCD RFC - LEINSTER) Capt.
Nick McCarthy (UCD RFC - LEINSTER)
Ross Molony (UCD RFC - LEINSTER)
Gary Ringrose (UCD RFC - LEINSTER)
Peadar Timmins (UCD RFC - LEINSTER)

Shane Delahunt (Lansdowne FC - LEINSTER)
Peter Dooley (Lansdowne FC - LEINSTER)
Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne FC - LEINSTER)
Stephen Gardiner (Lansdowne FC - LEINSTER)
Oisin Heffernan (Lansdowne FC - LEINSTER)
Cian Kelleher (Lansdowne FC - LEINSTER)
Conor McKeon (Lansdowne FC - LEINSTER)

Peter Robb (Old Belvedere RFC - LEINSTER)

Max Abbott (Cork Constitution FC - MUNSTER)
Rory Burke (Cork Constitution FC - MUNSTER)

Jack Cullen (Bruff RFC - MUNSTER)

Dan Goggin (Young Munster RFC - MUNSTER)

Jack O'Donoghue (UL Bohemians RFC - MUNSTER)

Alex Wootton (Garryowen - MUNSTER)

Rory Moloney (Buccaneers RFC - CONNACHT)
Jacob Walshe (Buccaneers RFC - CONNACHT)

Sean O'Brien (Galwegians RFC - CONNACHT)

David Busby (QUB RFC - ULSTER)

Frankie Taggart (Belfast Harlequins - ULSTER)

Bloody hell 17 Leinster players, only 6 Munster players 3 Connacht and 2 Ulster   

Pleased to see two Terenure lads in there. Is Brewer only in 6th year now? Thought he was finished.

Looking forward to seeing Dardis, Adam Byrne, Leavy and SOB jnr

The actual joke is Ulster have more promising forwards coming through the ranks than they have for years- at least 5 I can think of who are better than anyone we have produced for 3/4 years (Henderson apart).

Could be I am mixing my years but even so I do question on what basis this has been selected.
It has always been the case, as far as I can remember, if in doubt pick the Leinster lad.

Isnt Taggart an exile too? So only one player from the under-age system in Ulster? Seems a bit mental

The crazy thing is the U20 interpros were tight. It'll change throughout the season. At the moment it looks like Leinster are overrepresented but thats always been the case. They've the best coaching there and Ruddock is there also.

Taggart is an exile.

Why Donnan and Low are not there I have no idea - two excellent prospects

Surprised not to see John Madigan there. I've never seen him play but his massive size would surely give him a leg up at this level.

Team something like this:

1.Dooley
2.Delahunt
3.Heffernan
4.SOB
5.Moloney
6.Timmins
7.Leavy
8.JOD
9.McCarthy
10.Byrne
11.Kelleher
12.?
13.Brewer
14.Byrne
15.Dardis

Is that the most players ever in an Ireland u20s 6N squad who have just left school?

John Madigan has been injured all season. I think he is just back training. He is supposed to be good alright and 120kgs so he should make the JWC squad.

Brewer is the the son of the former All Black Mike Brewer! By all accounts a very good prospect.

Watch out for Dooley, good scrummager and great ball carrier. He was great last year in the u20s and should be even better now, having been in the Leinster academy.

How many of those are qualified for the U19s this year? I know that Cullen was playing U19s for Munster but got in ahead of Munsters U20s scrumhalf. I'll guess that Brewer, Dardis and possibly Ross Byrne are others.

profitius wrote:How many of those are qualified for the U19s this year? I know that Cullen was playing U19s for Munster but got in ahead of Munsters U20s scrumhalf. I'll guess that Brewer, Dardis and possibly Ross Byrne are others.

7.

Byrne, Brewer, Cullen, Dardis, Heffernan, McCarthy, Moloney.

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

profitius wrote:How many of those are qualified for the U19s this year? I know that Cullen was playing U19s for Munster but got in ahead of Munsters U20s scrumhalf. I'll guess that Brewer, Dardis and possibly Ross Byrne are others.

7.

Byrne, Brewer, Cullen, Dardis, Heffernan, McCarthy, Moloney.

Thats a lot of U19s! Are they too good to leave out or are the older players not very good this year?

profitius wrote:

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

profitius wrote:How many of those are qualified for the U19s this year? I know that Cullen was playing U19s for Munster but got in ahead of Munsters U20s scrumhalf. I'll guess that Brewer, Dardis and possibly Ross Byrne are others.

7.

Byrne, Brewer, Cullen, Dardis, Heffernan, McCarthy, Moloney.

Thats a lot of U19s! Are they too good to leave out or are the older players not very good this year?

Adam Byrne has played Rabo for Leinster. Youngest player to ever do so. (18 years 8 months) Massive guy for a back. 6'3" and 15 odd stone. But ripped. Like a body builder.

However it's Ross Byrne that is younger.  who I know little about.   3 Byrnes in the Leinster academy (Not including Ross) The other 2 are twins. hooker and LH combo.

Dardis and Brewer are really gifted in terms of their skills, and I have heard very good things about Moloney.

I also hear Dardis is out of the Scotland game.

I saw Adam Byrne last year and he was easily the worst player for the U20s! Ruddock had to haul him off against NZ before half time.

Brewer is talented. Very powerful 12 at underage level but also has talent. The back line looks good. I don't know too much about the forwards. Connacht's much hyped Georgian prop didn't make the squad I see.

profitius wrote:I saw Adam Byrne last year and he was easily the worst player for the U20s! Ruddock had to haul him off against NZ before half time.

True. He is a serious prospect nonetheless.

Only took up Rugby at 16. Fabulously talented athlete. Was an unused sub in Ravenhill in Dec 2012 in the Rabo. Joe Schmidt gave him a few mins v Connacht the following week. Had a good few A caps and B&I caps. Injured a fair bit since though.

We shall see........

Adam Bryne is a classic case of if he was at any of the other provinces he would be no where near the squad

Donnan has been in the U20s for a couple of years - he's too old now.

I see Busby is playing for the Ravens tonight at Deramore (7:30), so is Dow - might be worth a look...

geoff999rugby wrote:Adam Bryne is a classic case of if he was at any of the other provinces he would be no where near the squad

I love the way you manage to combine a classic chip on the shoulder with putting down a player that you probably have no idea about in so few words.

Kudos!

Here's a good write up on the squad.

http://www.ballhandlinghooker.com/2014/01/meet-wolfpuppies-2014.html

Are the games on tv? I know last year they didn't show some of the 6n games which is a disgrace imo given how popular the u20 comps have become.

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:Adam Bryne is a classic case of if he was at any of the other provinces he would be no where near the squad

I love the way you manage to combine a classic chip on the shoulder with putting down a player that you probably have no idea about in so few words.

Kudos!

No problem - but there is no way you can convince me the aged teams aren't picked by selecting the best in each provinces for the top 50%/70% and then filling the gaps with Leinster players

It has been going on for years

geoff998rugby wrote:

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:Adam Bryne is a classic case of if he was at any of the other provinces he would be no where near the squad

I love the way you manage to combine a classic chip on the shoulder with putting down a player that you probably have no idea about in so few words.

Kudos!

No problem - but there is no way you can convince me the aged teams aren't picked by selecting the best in each provinces for the top 50%/70% and then filling the gaps with Leinster players

It has been going on for years

Yeah it definitely works that way,Ruddock picks a huge amount of players that he coaches at club level.I suppose it makes some sense since he knows the players so well but I'd like to see a better spread.

http://www.irishrugby.ie/squads/ireland_u20.php if anyone is interested.

Any thoughts on the match tonight? Its on RTE.

Its on RTE at 7pm

Ireland lead 6pts to 0. Its raining so might make things a bit scrappy.

Ireland 13-0 Scotland. Scotland had most of territory and possession.


Ireland are destroying the Scottish scrum. Thats been the main difference.

Paddies 20-0 Jocks at half time.


Scotland a bit unlucky with that scoreline. They were up near the Ireland line a few times. Conditions are horrible,

Scotland taking some very high risk options at the line out, not sure why giving the weather, they handed Ireland the chance to punish them one last time before HT.

One-sided on the scoreboard, quite even on the pitch but Scotland not clinical, not good set piece.

Ross Byrne is controlling the game really well, Looks a very good player. Our pack is really good too. Leavy, Maloney, Dooley and O'Donaghue the pick of the bunch so far.

Watch out for Peter Robb at 12, rare to see the biggest guy on the team in the centre!

The women hammered scotland too.

A good nights work from the Irish pack. I thought McCarthy had a good game too at 9 and Byrne at 10.


We didn't see anything from 11 to 15. I wasn't impressed with Robb though. He made a few mistakes too many and didn't really use his size to make the hard yards. Sub scrumhalf Cullen was all over the place too. Busby was probably the pick of the backs. I won't be too harsh on them though given the conditions.


All the pack played well. O'Donoghue looks a fine athlete. It was a slow game as the pitch turned into a bog. You get the feeling we didn't see what the pack are really capable of yet.

Another highlight of the match was the Irish teams handling in those conditions. Technically they look good. There was a few mistakes but much less than expected.

It has to be said that Scotland were terrible. They couldn't string 2 passes together. Their scrum went from being dominated to getting on top in the second half. It was some turnaround for whatever reason?!

Wales are next up. They had a nice warm up against Italy and games against them are usually close at this level. Lets hope the conditions are somewhat drier.

Agree with all of that Profitus   

I would add Ringrose to Robb. The midfield were both in positions with men outside them in overlaps, but they went for personal glory. The conditions didn't allow for risky passes but they were a bit too 'head down' for me.

I would also mention Sean O'Brien, who will never go unnoticed because of his name (and hair). What I liked was his game awareness, as a couple of times he made good decisions when defending their maul (aside from getting pinged once for going in at the side). He wasn't afraid to run through a gap and had the wherewithal to offload at the right time. The thing I liked most was that when the Scottish scrummie ran through for their try and had a 5 yard headstart he still bust a gut trying to get back, even though the game was over.

Ruddock deserves a mention as well. I noticed a few times where the players had obviously been drilled to stay awake like the O'Donoghue try and Heffernan turning and sprinting back to get set for an impending 22 drop out.

The ref should also get some praise - he had a good game.

Ye the ref was very good, certainly way better than the ref Italy currently have in the Rabo. Hopefully we see him reffing in the Rabo soon.

I think this pack could potentially be even better than the one in 2012 which would be quite something. Lets pray for JOD to be fit for the Wales game, he was outstanding.

1 change from last weel. Kelleher comes in for Adam Byrne on the right wing.

15. David Busby (Queen's University/Ulster)
14. Cian Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster)
13. Gary Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)
12. Peter Robb (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
11. Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne/Leinster)
10. Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster)
9. Nick McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)
1. Peter Dooley (Lansdowne/Leinster)
2. Max Abbott (Cork Constitution/Munster)
3. Rory Burke (Cork Constitution/Munster)
4. Sean O'Brien (Galwegians/Connacht)
5. Ross Molony (UCD/Leinster)
6. Peadar Timmins (UCD/Leinster)
7. Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
8. Jack O'Donoghue (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Replacements:
16. Sean McNulty (UCD/Munster)
17. Denis Coulson (Lansdowne/Leinster)
18. Oisin Heffernan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
19. Joe Joyce (Bristol/Exiles)
20. Frankie Taggart (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
21. Jack Cullen (Bruff/Munster)
22. Conor McKeon (Lansdowne/Leinster)
23. Dan Goggin (Young Munster/Munster)

Dooley, Leavy, SOB, JOD and Byrne look the best prospects so far...hoefully we will see more players step up in dryer conditions (hopefully) tommorow.

Wouldn't surprise me to see this game being called off. The weather getting very bad now.

Same team for Italy that played England except for O'Donoghue and O'Brien coming back. Also Rory Moloney is in for the injured Leavy.

Is this on tv?

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Is this on tv?

I think its on RTE at about 7.

10-0 after 17 minutes

Byrne looks good. Made two great breaks so far.

How old is this referee?

Cian Kelleher seemed to want to play a different kind of game all night to most of his team mates. But we played a very pedestrian, very tired looking game. I know I'm not being very enthusiastic about this Irish U20 side but they're not giving me much to go on. Is Ruddock the right coach? It's all very predictable.

If we miss as many chances tomorrow, there'll be some very unhappy campers all round! That margin of victory should have been at least 30 points bigger given the knock-ons and spilled balls in the red zone, not mention missed penalties...

Anyone else worried about the future of Italian rugby? Ireland didn't even have to start the car let alone get out of first gear here.

Well that was sh!te!! Not a good performance at all from Ireland. Things just didn't click at all for whatever reasons.

SecretFly wrote:Cian Kelleher seemed to want to play a different kind of game all night to most of his team mates.  But we played a very pedestrian, very tired looking game.  I know I'm not being very enthusiastic about this Irish U20 side but they're not giving me much to go on.  Is Ruddock the right coach?  It's all very predictable.

Judge them on the JWC, fly. Last season Irelands U20s drew with the Italians. At this age group anything can happen.

How come Sean O'Hagan isn't in this side?

I can't get enthused by this year's crop either. It's hard to tell much about the tight five although Sean O'Brien looks to have something about him. The backrow missed Dan Leavy massively and the team missed his leadership, although Jack O'D looks useful. At this age it's hard to pick out forwards who will make it.

It should be easier for backs to show what they're made of, but over the four games there has been little to get excited about. Cian Kelleher stood out in this game with his power and pace. Adam Byrne flatters to deceive making good breaks and then flunking the pass or being too selfish or going wrong side etc. - has he got a Keith Earls poster on his wall? As for Ross Byrne there looks to be a rugby player somewhere inside a lethargic exterior, it just doesn't appear often enough.

Seaon O'Hagan is still U19 from what I hear and McKeown and Byrne were both highly rated so no need to rush him.

Id wait until after the JWC to judge this team but guys like Dooley, SOB, JOD, Kelleher, Adam Byrne and of course Leavy look like they will make a living playing this game. The convyer belt of players coming through continues...

http://balls.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/20.gif

PredictorofTeams wrote:http://balls.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/20.gif

The link didn't work for me. Is it the Robb tackle? Here is a link for that. http://balls.ie/rugby/gif-monster-hit-ireland-20s-player-peter-robb-hapless-italian/