Ireland Under 20 2016

[Ruckedtobits]

Deserving of a separate thread for Congratulaions as World (U.20) Player of the Year. A wonderful acheivement as were some of his performances!

[Donny B.]

Didnt get to see much but to be optimistic England have a huge advantage at this level but our side will produce more full internationals

The Munster 10 was a huge loss but they still made the final, which was only game they lost, and beat Argentina, Wales, and NEW ZEALAND on the way

And all the talk going into the tournament was they had no backline

To be fair, I didn't give them a prayer of even getting out of a group with NZ and Grand Slam winners Wales, so they over-achieved massively. In the Six Nations England only won 1 game out of 5 but they'd been dramatically weakened by the clubs demands on players in a busy World Cup season. With them hosting the tournament, they were always going to be at full strength and they just blew us away in all facets of the game. Ireland were also hampered by injuries to Power, Connors and Claffay before the tournament and Johnson and Gallagher during it so they did really well to get to the final, win player of the tournament and become the first Irish mens team ever to beat NZ. I think Ryan will be eligible for next years tournament, he's still only 19, and every province has at least 2/3 players to watch for the future coming out of this playing pool. Though the finale was disappointing, overall it's been a massively positive tournament.

[simonokeeffe]

And lets not forget Argentina beat SA and France

I say this not to troll or rain on parades, but seriously, does anyone expect us to hang to Deegan for long?
Serious queue in front of him and only so many chances for specialist 8s

[simonokeeffe]

Porter, McBurney, and Ryan named in JRWC dream team with Deegan

[cormac]

Didnt get to see much but to be optimistic England have a huge advantage at this level but our side will produce more full internationals

The Munster 10 was a huge loss but they still made the final, which was only game they lost, and beat Argentina, Wales, and NEW ZEALAND on the way

And all the talk going into the tournament was they had no backline

To be fair, I didn't give them a prayer of even getting out of a group with NZ and Grand Slam winners Wales, so they over-achieved massively. In the Six Nations England only won 1 game out of 5 but they'd been dramatically weakened by the clubs demands on players in a busy World Cup season. With them hosting the tournament, they were always going to be at full strength and they just blew us away in all facets of the game. Ireland were also hampered by injuries to Power, Connors and Claffay before the tournament and Johnson and Gallagher during it so they did really well to get to the final, win player of the tournament and become the first Irish mens team ever to beat NZ. I think Ryan will be eligible for next years tournament, he's still only 19, and every province has at least 2/3 players to watch for the future coming out of this playing pool. Though the finale was disappointing, overall it's been a massively positive tournament.

Ryan is 20 next month so not eligible next year

[dropkick]

No doubt the best team won the tournament and it was a bad day for the Irish team but theres some excellent talent in that side.


I thought England would have a physical advantage but it was like an U20 side against an U19 or U18 side. Thats an advantage in how they bring through players. Taking nothing away from them though, they hardly made any passing mistakes and Mallinder looked very good.


They out thought Ireland tactically I thought. They went wide wide like Connacht play which really stretched the Irish defence. Ireland have conceded a lot of tries in this competition so defence was a weak point.

[Xanthippe]

Max Deegan wins Player of the Tournament.

Good for him!

Wow, nice one
Our first ever Irish winner right?
Previous nomineeswere Heaslip, JJ, Ringrose?

Was a public vote on Facebook and I'd say it would be safe to say Deegan got over 90% of the votes cast.

[simonokeeffe]

Almost as if we're more likeable than the English

[jezzer]

England were absolutely outstanding. Incredible performance. Love the way we lost still swinging punches. That'll stand to those players in the future.

[Donny B.]

Didnt get to see much but to be optimistic England have a huge advantage at this level but our side will produce more full internationals

The Munster 10 was a huge loss but they still made the final, which was only game they lost, and beat Argentina, Wales, and NEW ZEALAND on the way

And all the talk going into the tournament was they had no backline

To be fair, I didn't give them a prayer of even getting out of a group with NZ and Grand Slam winners Wales, so they over-achieved massively. In the Six Nations England only won 1 game out of 5 but they'd been dramatically weakened by the clubs demands on players in a busy World Cup season. With them hosting the tournament, they were always going to be at full strength and they just blew us away in all facets of the game. Ireland were also hampered by injuries to Power, Connors and Claffay before the tournament and Johnson and Gallagher during it so they did really well to get to the final, win player of the tournament and become the first Irish mens team ever to beat NZ. I think Ryan will be eligible for next years tournament, he's still only 19, and every province has at least 2/3 players to watch for the future coming out of this playing pool. Though the finale was disappointing, overall it's been a massively positive tournament.

Ryan is 20 next month so not eligible next year

"Just the facts, Jack, just the facts".

[Armchair]

And lets not forget Argentina beat SA and France

I say this not to troll or rain on parades, but seriously, does anyone expect us to hang to Deegan for long?
Serious queue in front of him and only so many chances for specialist 8s

Deegan will be ahead of Conan this time next season imo if he is given the game time BUT these lads are ambitious and if they are not getting game time then they will leave academy similar to Kelleher while still in academy

[simonokeeffe]

And lets not forget Argentina beat SA and France

I say this not to troll or rain on parades, but seriously, does anyone expect us to hang to Deegan for long?
Serious queue in front of him and only so many chances for specialist 8s

Deegan will be ahead of Conan this time next season imo if he is given the game time BUT these lads are ambitious and if they are not getting game time then they will leave academy similar to Kelleher while still in academy

Deegan is listed as 108 kg, didnt think he'd be that heavy, Conan is 114kg
but IMO Deegan is not physically strong/big enough as of right now

what do you reckon he has that Conan hasnt?

[jezzer]

And lets not forget Argentina beat SA and France

I say this not to troll or rain on parades, but seriously, does anyone expect us to hang to Deegan for long?
Serious queue in front of him and only so many chances for specialist 8s

Deegan will be ahead of Conan this time next season imo if he is given the game time BUT these lads are ambitious and if they are not getting game time then they will leave academy similar to Kelleher while still in academy

Deegan is listed as 108 kg, didnt think he'd be that heavy, Conan is 114kg
but IMO Deegan is not physically strong/big enough as of right now

what do you reckon he has that Conan hasnt?

Deegan looked more athletic and more heads-up than Conan to me. Deegan reminds me of today's Jamie.

[ChrisUppy]

And lets not forget Argentina beat SA and France

I say this not to troll or rain on parades, but seriously, does anyone expect us to hang to Deegan for long?
Serious queue in front of him and only so many chances for specialist 8s

Deegan will be ahead of Conan this time next season imo if he is given the game time BUT these lads are ambitious and if they are not getting game time then they will leave academy similar to Kelleher while still in academy

Deegan is listed as 108 kg, didnt think he'd be that heavy, Conan is 114kg
but IMO Deegan is not physically strong/big enough as of right now

what do you reckon he has that Conan hasnt?

With the pace he's got and at 6'4 he could make a good athletic blindside. Like a good version of Tom Croft.

Actually he reminds me very much of Elsom (in playing style).

[Ruckedtobits]

Jack O'Donoghue, previous No 8 and captain of 20's was a very comparable specimen by build and skills, but possibly without Deegan's absolute pace, but maybe marginally better at back of scrum and in line-out. He has certainty developed well in past 24 months with a Munster team under pressure.

Conan is definitely a physically stronger player and obviously more mature, but all three have the ability and skill-set to mature into potential successors to Heaslip.

[simonokeeffe]

JOD is interesting as he hardly bulked up at all after u20s despite being a big carrying 8, albeit only 6'1 or 6'2, was shoehorned in as a 7 and looks to be Munster's Jordi Murphy now and possibly a 6 going forward but being 20 in their strongest team

Said this before on Conan but he does need a rocket up his arse/a good narky 9 to keep his workrate up

Conan is a stone heavier; what impresses me about Deegan's weight is he looks lean so will be interesting to see what weight he levels off at

However I managed it Ive seen Deegan play as much schools as u20 so would have seen Conan a lot more

[leinsterforever]

Jack O'Donoghue, previous No 8 and captain of 20's was a very comparable specimen by build and skills, but possibly without Deegan's absolute pace, but maybe marginally better at back of scrum and in line-out. He has certainty developed well in past 24 months with a Munster team under pressure.

Conan is definitely a physically stronger player and obviously more mature, but all three have the ability and skill-set to mature into potential successors to Heaslip.

O'Donoghue has really good pace. I can't find the video, but he got an intercept try early last season that was disallowed because he was marginally offside, and he just raced in under the posts from about 60m out. He's very, very fast - maybe faster than Deegan

[Oldschool]

JOD is interesting as he hardly bulked up at all after u20s despite being a big carrying 8, albeit only 6'1 or 6'2, was shoehorned in as a 7 and looks to be Munster's Jordi Murphy now and possibly a 6 going forward but being 20 in their strongest team

Said this before on Conan but he does need a rocket up his arse/a good narky 9 to keep his workrate up

Conan is a stone heavier; what impresses me about Deegan's weight is he looks lean so will be interesting to see what weight he levels off at

However I managed it Ive seen Deegan play as much schools as u20 so would have seen Conan a lot more

The two inches will win out.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Jack O'Donoghue, previous No 8 and captain of 20's was a very comparable specimen by build and skills, but possibly without Deegan's absolute pace, but maybe marginally better at back of scrum and in line-out. He has certainty developed well in past 24 months with a Munster team under pressure.

Conan is definitely a physically stronger player and obviously more mature, but all three have the ability and skill-set to mature into potential successors to Heaslip.

O'Donoghue has really good pace. I can't find the video, but he got an intercept try early last season that was disallowed because he was marginally offside, and he just raced in under the posts from about 60m out. He's very, very fast - maybe faster than Deegan

Yeah I remember that, he's electric. I've been a bit disappointed by his progress tbh. Nothing to worry about and I know he's been playing in a poor side and out of position but I just expected more. Always slightly concerned when guys with power and pace don't "break through" very quickly because those attributes have a limited lifespan. Don't get me wrong, he's been pretty good but I just expected him to dominate as a carrier.

[Fireworks]

JOD is interesting as he hardly bulked up at all after u20s despite being a big carrying 8, albeit only 6'1 or 6'2, was shoehorned in as a 7 and looks to be Munster's Jordi Murphy now and possibly a 6 going forward but being 20 in their strongest team

Said this before on Conan but he does need a rocket up his arse/a good narky 9 to keep his workrate up

Conan is a stone heavier; what impresses me about Deegan's weight is he looks lean so will be interesting to see what weight he levels off at

However I managed it Ive seen Deegan play as much schools as u20 so would have seen Conan a lot more

The two inches will win out.

Size matters...