IRELAND HAVE made two changes to their 34-man squad ahead of the U20 Six Nations, which kicks off this weekend. 

Levi Vaughan and Will Reilly have been added to the panel that departs Dublin for Cardiff on Thursday.

They are enforced changes and the pair will replace hooker Lee Barron and scrum-half Ben Murphy, who have been both ruled out through injury.

Barron and Murphy join hooker Tom Stewart, out-half Cian Whooley and second row Joe McCarthy on the list of absentees.

Ireland face Scotland in the Welch capital on Saturday (kick-off 2pm), and head coach Richie Murphy is set to name his team on Friday.

“It is always really unfortunate when a player misses out through injury and it is a double blow to lose Lee and Ben so close to our first game, but it’s a great opportunity for the two players coming in now,” said Murphy.

“We have prepared really well over a number of five-day camps at the IRFU High Performance Centre and the group is just excited to get over to Cardiff and get stuck into the challenge ahead. We know it’ll be tough against Scotland but we’re looking forward to getting the Six Nations underway.”

Subscribe to The42 Rugby Weekly podcast here: