The Ireland Under-20 team (sponsored by PwC) to play Fiji in the second round of pool games in the IRB Junior World Championship has been named.
Coach, Mike Ruddock, has made a number of changes to the team who overcame Australia 19 – 15 in their opening game of the tournament.
Darragh Leader has been named at full back with Darren Sweetman partnering Rory Scholes on the wing. Mark Roche joins Tom Daly in the centre while David Shanahan has been named at scrum half.
Up front, twins Edward and Bryan Byrne make their first start of the tournament along with Christopher Taylor while Gavin Thornbruy and Sean McCarthy make up the second row pairing. Daniel Leavy and Jack O’Donoghue join Conor Joyce, who will captain the side, in the Back Row.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Ruddock said,
“We want to build on a big win against Australia with a top performance against Fiji. We have freshened the side up quite a bit, the heat and physicality of the Australian game combined with a four day turnaround means we have to use all our resources to raise our performance.”
The games will be shown live on TG4.
Ireland Under-20 Team to play Fiji Under-20 (IRB Junior World Championship, Stade de la Rabine, Vannes, Sunday, 9th June, kick-off 18.45hrs local time/17.45hrs Irish Time)
15 – Darragh Leader (Galwegians/Connacht)
14 – Darren Sweetnam (UCC/Munster)
13 – Mark Roche (Lansdowne/Connacht)
12 – Tom Daly (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 – Rory Scholes (Belfast Harlequins /Ulster)
10 – Steve Crosbie (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
9 – David Shanahan (Clontarf/Leinster)
1 – Edward Byrne (UCD /Leinster)
2 – Bryan Byrne (UCD/Leinster)
3 – Christopher Taylor (Malone/Ulster)
4 – Gavin Thornbury (UCD/Leinster)
5- Sean McCarthy (Shannon/Munster)
6 – Conor Joyce (Malone/Ulster)(Captain)
7 – Daniel Leavy (UCD /Leinster)
8 – Jack O’Donoghue (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Replacements:
16 – George McGuigan (Newcastle Falcons/Exile)
17- Peter Dooley (Lansdowne/Leinster)
18 – Ryan Furniss (Worcester/Exile)
19- John Donnan (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
20- Josh Van Der Flier (UCD/Leinster)
21 – Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster)
22- Rory Scannell (Dolphin/Munster)
23- David Panter (Corinthians/Connacht)
Pool B Fixtures and Results – Junior World Championship 2013(All times are local)
05 Jun, 18:45 Ireland – Australia Stade de la Rabine, Vannes 19-15
05 Jun, 20:45 New Zealand – Fiji Stade de la Rabine, Vannes 59-6
09 Jun, 18:45 Ireland – Fiji Stade de la Rabine, Vannes
09 Jun, 20:45 New Zealand – Australia Stade de la Rabine, Vannes
13 Jun, 18:45 New Zealand – Ireland Stade de la Rabine, Vannes
13 Jun, 20:45 Australia – Fiji Stade de la Rabine, Vannes
