THE IRELAND U20s will look to continue their 100% record in this year’s U20 Six Nations when they welcome Italy to Musgrave Park tonight [KO 8pm, Virgin Media One], with Richie Murphy’s side heading into the game as they only side still unbeaten in the competition, three points clear at the top of table.
So far, it’s been an excellent campaign for a squad who have played very little rugby together.
Pre-tournament, Murphy outlined that expectations would need to be tempered given his players had missed out on so much age grade rugby across the Covid pandemic, also noting that the group weren’t the most physically imposing outfit.
Yet his team have looked impressively sharp across the opening two rounds, wins over Wales and France leaving them in a strong position to push on and make a real charge at the title.
Ulster hooker James McCormick says confidence is high as they look to build on that strong start and make it three wins from three, explaining that size isn’t always a defining factor when it comes to the battle up front.
“We back ourselves, we back our drills,” McCormick says.
At the end of the day it’s about who wants it more and if we can get the mental space right, I always think it doesn’t matter what we come up against, we can overcome it.
“Some of us had been involved in the senior set-ups at the provinces and had been playing rugby regularly. Some of us sort of knew each other from U18s, we’d been together that year, although obviously it’s a big gap between then and now.
“The camps we had coming in, there wasn’t a big expectation on us because that was an excuse we could use, but I think the guys gelled really quickly and it’s shown now on the pitch. Going forward, hopefully we can show that again this weekend.”
Head coach Murphy will have been particularly encouraged to see how his side negotiated their way past two very different opponents, dominating Wales in a high-scoring attacking display before digging deep to overcome a much more physical French side.
“We came up against two different teams and got two different results,” explains McCormick.
It gives us a lot of confidence that we can get ahead and stay ahead, and then we can go away and we went behind but we came back to win again. It’s good experience for all the players knowing what we need to do in those situations if we come across them again going into this week.”
McCormick has played a key role in those opening fixtures, nailing all the basics in his role at hooker while also crossing for a try in each game.
“Tries come if you do all your individual stuff right and the team works together.
“The guy who scores the tries isn’t necessarily on top, it’s only down to the hard work of the rest of your team-mates. It’s nice to get a couple but it’s not really a big focus.
“They (coaches) want you to excel in all your attributes, and if scoring tries is one of them then I’m going to try and do that. But if someone else is in a better position to finish it off, you’re going to give the pass to them.”
Tonight Ireland take on an Italian side who also come into the fixture on the back of a big win, beating England 6-0 last time out – their first ever victory over England in the U20 Six Nations.
“Really good performance, they played very well. Big, dominant pack and a good back-line to go with that,” McCormick adds.
Murphy has made four changes from the side that started against France, with all four coming in the backline.
Matthew Devine returns at scrum-half in place of Ethan Coughlan, while centre Jude Postlewaite comes in for Daniel Hawkshaw.
Chay Mullins and Fionn Gibbons both start on the wings, with Aitzol King and Shane Mallon dropping out of the starting team.
IRELAND U20s: Patrick Campbell; Chay Mullins, Jude Postlethwaite, Ben Brownlee, Fionn Gibbons; Charlie Tector, Matthew Devine; Jack Boyle, James McCormick, Rory McGuire; Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Mark Morrissey; James McNabney, Reuben Crothers (captain), James Culhane.
Replacements: Josh Hanlon, Oisin Michel, Darragh McSweeney, Adam McNamee, Lorcan McLoughlin, Ethan Coughlan, Tony Butler, Dylan O’Grady.
ITALY U20s: Lorenzo Pani; Federico Cuminetti, Francois Carlo Mey, Dewi Passarella, Filippo Lazzarin; Nicolò Teneggi, Alessandro Garbisi; Luca Rizzoli, Lapo Frangini, Riccardo Genovese; Alessandro Ortombina, Riccardo Andreoli; David Odiase, Ross Vintcent, Giacomo Ferrari (captain).
Replacements: Tommaso Scramoncin, Valerio Bizzotto, Riccardo Bartolini, Lizardo Rodriguez Carlos Berlese, Giovanni Cenedese, Gianluca Tomaselli, Giovanni Sante, Arturo Fusari.
Gavan Casey is joined by Bernard Jackman and Murray Kinsella to look ahead to Italy, chat about the provinces’ latest signings, and remember ‘Inga the Winga’.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
