Ireland u20 2013/14

[Donny B.]

Very good players for me include Ringrose ( I hope he makes it as we have a song ready to go for him).

[ichabodscrane]

I thought Heffernan was very good, he was clearly tired like the rest of the team in the second half. Ireland had dominance in the scrum in the first half but New Zealand had their lock in the bin and when he came back in we lost two scrums on the bounce late in the first half and were lucky not to be punished. But in saying that all the pressure came from the loosehead side where their lock was packing down after a nice break in the bin.

Brewer & Kelleher (less so) were poor defensively, left flat footed for at least two tries. Kelleher was great going forward, Ringrose did some unseen work he was very solid when we needed to keep possession and try to string some phases together. Taggart along with Dooley and Heffernan were strong and committed in contact and our lineout worked extremely well.

I didn't think Bryne or McCarthy had a good match, aimless kicking handing back possession to the All Black's back three, I thought we would have known that you can't do that with Southern Hemisphere teams.

[Lamb of BOD]

Very good players for me include Ringrose ( I hope he makes it as we have a song ready to go for him)....

Try to ensure they don't all fall down

[the spoofer]

Very good players for me include Ringrose ( I hope he makes it as we have a song ready to go for him)....

Try to ensure they don't all fall down

Nah, much as it galls me, more Dublin than that.

[Lamb of BOD]

I'm intrigued ....

[the spoofer]

Dooley has barely played A rugby, thats where he will be next season with Ed Byrne probably playing some Pro 12.. Why we signed another LH prop ill never know..unless they plan on moving Bent back over to TH.

Which frankly i'd rather not see as I want Furlong getting as much time at TH as possible

I was a TH and could never play loose, but to my untutored eye, Dooley is the far more promising prospect. He needs to improve discipline, gives away too many soft penalties but his scrummaging is top notch. Even when the Irish scrum was under pressure during the whole competition, it always appeared to be on the TH side. He carried oceans of ball and did so effectively. He is quick ( a number 8 until 15) and has the frame to carry even more bulk. He's already 6' 1" and 17st. There is little between Byrne and him size wise but I just think he has more. He also appears to be durable given that he played all 5 games in the competition.

[the spoofer]

I'm intrigued ....

OK, for the remedial class....

[Chorus:]
Ring a ring a rosie, as the light declines
I remember Dublin city in the rare ould times

[goreyguy]

Dooley a better prospect than who? Ed Byrne?

Yeah I could see the case to be made there which is odd because Byrne was very highly thought of when he entered the academy.. he is small enough though but generally that doesn't seem to be much of a problem for him at scrum time so far.. ive always wondered would he possibly join his brother at hooker down the line..

Also Dooley is still only 19.

[ichabodscrane]

I'm intrigued ....

OK, for the remedial class....

[Chorus:]
Ring a ring a rosie, as the light declines
I remember Dublin city in the rare ould times

How do you rate our centre prospects, most notably Collie and Ringrose? I see Macken is on the bench for the emerging side, Griffin on in his place and given that Griffin is moving to LI and the IRFU's reluctance to pick players that are playing outside the Pro12 it may look like the writing is on the wall for Macken at international level for now.

[goreyguy]

Macken has no wall to be written on at international level.. he needs to seriously step it up this year.. dunno if he can do it though

[dropkick]

I'm intrigued ....

OK, for the remedial class....

[Chorus:]
Ring a ring a rosie, as the light declines
I remember Dublin city in the rare ould times

How do you rate our centre prospects, most notably Collie and Ringrose? I see Macken is on the bench for the emerging side, Griffin on in his place and given that Griffin is moving to LI and the IRFU's reluctance to pick players that are playing outside the Pro12 it may look like the writing is on the wall for Macken at international level for now.

Tom Farrell is the one to watch IMO. Watching him last year for the U20s he looked really class.
Ringrose has looked class too.
I don't think Macken will be in Leinster for long to be honest. He's probably English or French second division standard.

[dropkick]

Good display from Ireland even if the result was bad. Only downside was the defense. After 30 min NZ had about 3 attacks and scored 3 tries.


Part of the problem with the defense was the lack of physicality on the forwards and also they were trying to use the choke tackle. They should have just concentrated on chopping the Kiwis down. The choke tackle requires strength that the senior sides have but these lads are not developed enough for that. The kicking played in NZs hands. Too many uncontestable kicks or miss touch finders.


The attacking play was good from Ireland (and New Zealand) and it was very close going into the last quarter. Brewer had a decent game in his first start. Scrums were good especially in the early part of the match. They were driving the Kiwis back at will but they seemed to tire as the match wore on. Next year they Ruddock must use the squad a bit better. Its all very well playing the best players but if they're tired and not operating at 100% then maybe the fresh player is a better option. The first choice would be then recovering instead of playing even more.


As for physicality, NZ were a fitter team and used that advantage to run in a few late tries. I thought they should have beaten the Baby Boks in their semi final as South Africa got two lucky tries.


Taggart was very good for Ireland and Heffernan had a big game. Can't fault any player for their effort and there looks to be plenty of this years U20s who will make it to provincial rugby.

[ichabodscrane]

OK, for the remedial class....

[Chorus:]
Ring a ring a rosie, as the light declines
I remember Dublin city in the rare ould times

How do you rate our centre prospects, most notably Collie and Ringrose? I see Macken is on the bench for the emerging side, Griffin on in his place and given that Griffin is moving to LI and the IRFU's reluctance to pick players that are playing outside the Pro12 it may look like the writing is on the wall for Macken at international level for now.

Tom Farrell is the one to watch IMO. Watching him last year for the U20s he looked really class.
Ringrose has looked class too.
I don't think Macken will be in Leinster for long to be honest. He's probably English or French second division standard.

Totally forgot about Farrell tbh, yeah I remember being impressed with him last year. He's very much like Ringrose in that he can place kick too. What's happening with Robb, any follow up on the rumour that he's going out west?

[dropkick]

Didn't hear anything about Robb only a rumour he is going to Connacht. I'd say he'll have a few offers to go places whether Leinster offer him a place or not. He would be an excellent signing for connacht.

[Donny B.]

Totally forgot about Farrell tbh, yeah I remember being impressed with him last year. He's very much like Ringrose in that he can place kick too. What's happening with Robb, any follow up on the rumour that he's going out west?

That's Tom Daly

[ichabodscrane]

My bad, just google imaged Tom Farrell, I remember him now but for some reason Daly just stuck in my mind.. Cheers for the correction

[Donny B.]

My bad, just google imaged Tom Farrell, I remember him now but for some reason Daly just stuck in my mind.. Cheers for the correction

No worries, easy enough to confuse them. Was talking to Daly after the B&I cup. Injury wrecked last season but he's really hoping to get some decent gametime this coming season.

[goreyguy]

Farrell and Daly had injury wrecked seasons

[Donny B.]

Farrell and Daly had injury wrecked seasons

Yep, both could do with some luck.

[ichabodscrane]

Farrell and Daly had injury wrecked seasons

Yep, both could do with some luck.

I take it if for they'll get a run out in the B&I with Reid being needed more in the senior squad? That's if MOC doesn't bring in that league bosher..