IRELAND U20 HEAD coach Mike Ruddock has opted for continuity in making just one change from the side that beat Scotland ahead of Friday night’s clash with Wales.
Cian Kelleher is selected on the right wing, replacing fellow Leinster man Adam Byrne, who drops out of the match day squad completely. Impressive No. 8 Jack O’Donoghue has recovered from the knee problem that forced him to limp off late in the 34-7 victory over the Scots last weekend.
Waterford man O’Donoghue scored two tries that night at Dubarry Park, the same venue for the encounter with Wales. There are three changes to Ruddock’s bench with UCD’s Sean McNulty replacing Jacob Walshe, Denis Coulson of Lansdowne coming in for Shane Delahunt and Belfast Harlequins’ Frankie Taggart taking the place of Rory Moloney.
We got off to a good start in difficult conditions against the Scots but Wales will provide a much sterner test,” said Ruddock. “An unchanged side gives us some consistency and will allow combinations to develop across the field.
“We have some fresh faces on the bench which will be hoping to make an impact on the game at some stage.”
Wales come into this game off the back of a 26-9 win over Italy, in which they scored three tries. Head coach Byron Hayward has made five personnel changes and two positional switches to his side for this trip to Athlone.
“We will need to step up a gear defensively against Ireland as they will pose a different challenge to Italy, plus they scored 30 points against Scotland,” Hayward told the official Six Nations site. “I’m confident we can rise to that challenge as we’ve worked hard on that area of our game.”
Ireland U20s: David Busby (QUB, Ulster); Cian Kelleher (Lansdowne, Leinster), Gary Ringrose (UCD, Leinster), Peter Robb (Old Belvedere, Leinster), Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne, Leinster); Ross Byrne, Nick McCarthy (both UCD, Leinster); Peter Dooley (Lansdowne, Leinster), Max Abbott (Cork Con, Munster), Rory Burke (Cork Con, Munster); Sean O’Brien (Galwegians, Connacht), Ross Malony; Peadar Timmins, Dan Leavy (all three UCD, Leinster), Jack O’Donoghue (UL Bohs, Munster).Replacements: Sean McNulty (UCD, Munster), Denis Coulsen (Lansdowne, Leinster), Oisin Heffernan (Lansdowne, Leinster), Joe Joyce (Bristol, Exiles), Frankie Taggart (Belfast ‘Quins, Ulster), Jack Cullen (Bruff, Munster), Conor McKeon (Lansdowne, Leinster), Dan Goggin (Young Munster, Munster).
Wales U20s: Afon Bagshaw (RGC); Ashton Hewitt (Dragons), Steffan Hughes (Scarlets), Garyn Smith (Blues), Joshua Adams (Scarlets); Ethan Davies (Dragons), Tom Williams (Blues); Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Ethan Lewis (Blues), Nicky Thomas (Ospreys); Scott Andrews (Dragons), James Sheekey (Blues); Will Boyde (Carmarthen), James Benjamin (Dragons), Ben Roach (Blues).Replacements: Scott Otten (Ospreys), Luke Garrett (Dragons), Callum Lewis (Blues), Rory Thornton (Ospreys), Ollie Griffiths (Dragons), Connor Lloyd (Scarlets), Luke Price (Ospreys), Tyler Morgan (Dragons).
Ireland U20s v Wales U20s takes place at Dubarry Park on Friday 7th February at 7.35pm.
