Ireland U20 competed in the Six Nations Championship in February and March 2011 and in the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship in Italy in June.
We have taken advantage of our site cleanup to review our historical coverage of international and provincial sides over the last 10 years. This article was written on Wednesday, 20th January 2020 and has been entered retrospectively into the appropriate timeline.
2011 U20 Six Nations
Ireland were unable to defend their Six Nations title from the previous season, finishing fourth after two wins and a draw from their five matches in 2011.
Results
4 February 2011. Italy 9 – 28 Ireland, Stadio XXV Aprile
11 February 2011. Ireland 13 – 38 France, Dubarry Park
25 February 2011. Scotland 0 – 15 Ireland, Tulloch
11 March 2011. Wales 26 – 26 Ireland, Parc-y-Scarlets
18 March 2011. Ireland 15 – 46 England, Dubarry Park
Standings
TEAM
PL
W
D
PD
PTS
England
5
5
0
167
10
France
5
4
0
87
8
Wales
5
2
1
48
5
Ireland
5
2
1
(22)
5
Italy
5
1
0
(141)
2
Scotland
5
0
0
(139)
0
Players Used
Head coach Mike Ruddock used 37 players during the Six Nations. This was a 42% increase on the 26 players used in 2010. The increase appeared to be partially due to clubs, and Ulster in particular, not releasing players during the Six Nations. In addition there was an overall expansion in selection to have a look at players outside of Ireland with “Exiles” Finlay Bealham, Nathaniel McDonald and Stephen Lecky included in the squad. Bealham was subsequently included in the Ulster Academy and assigned to Belfast Harlequins between the Six Nations and World Championship.
Ireland finished the tournament with a 22 point deficit, scoring 97 points and conceding 119. The points scored came from 11 tries, 6 conversions (54% conversion rate) and 10 penalties. Ulster’s Paddy Jackson was the main kicker picking up 37 points from the boot over the 4 matches she was available and Craig Gilroy was the leading try scorer, with 3 tries, despite only being released for two games.
SCORERS
T
C
P
PTS
Paddy Jackson
5
9
37
Craig Gilroy
3
15
David Doyle
2
10
Niall Annett
2
10
JJ Hanrahan
1
1
5
James Tracy
1
5
Martin Moore
1
5
Penalty Try
1
5
Shane Buckley
1
5
Check Sum
11
6
10
97
Ireland U20 2011 Six Nations Squad – Scorers
2011 IRB Junior World Championship
The 2011 JWC was played in Italy with Ireland based in Rosario in Pool C alongside England, South Africa and Scotland. With a host of Irish youngsters getting Magners League experience throughout the season there were high expectations for this campaign. Unfortunately they were not match prepared and were overpowered by the heavyweight England and South African sides in the pool stages before picking up their solitary win against Scotland.
However this was enough to put them in the 5th – 8th place playoffs but a second defeat to South Africa and then Wales saw Ireland finish 8th.
Results
10 June 2011. England 33 – 25 Ireland, Treviso
14 June 2011. Ireland 26 – 42 South Africa, Treviso
18 June 2011. Ireland 30 – 13 Scotland, Rovigo
22 June 2011. South Africa 57 – 15 Ireland, Padua
26 June 2011. Wales 38 – 24 Ireland, Treviso
Pool Standings
TEAM
PL
W
PD
BP
PTS
England
3
3
35
2
14
South Africa
3
2
43
3
11
Ireland
3
1
(7)
0
4
Scotland
3
0
(71)
0
0
Final Rankings
1. New Zealand, 2. England, 3. Australia, 4. France, 5. South Africa, 6. Fiji, 7. Wales, 8. Ireland, 9. Argentina, 10. Scotland, 11. Tonga, 12. Italy.
Players Used
There were 27 players used during the World Championships with 13 players dropping out of the Six Nations squad and three players, Dominic Gallagher, Jonathan Murphy, Kieran Marmion, brought in. Marmion, playing as an Exile was brought in at the expense of Blane McIlroy but Ulster’s representation increased from 8 to 10 with the inclusion of Trinity’s Gallagher and Banbridge’s Murphy together with the signing of Bealham.
PLAYER
CLUB
PROVINCE
START
BENCH
SQUADS
Andrew Conway
Blackrock
Leinster
5
0
5
Jordi Murphy
Lansdowne
Leinster
5
0
5
Kieran Marmion
UWIC
Exile
5
0
5
Tadhg Furlong
Clontarf
Leinster
5
0
5
Brendan Macken
Blackrock
Leinster
4
1
5
Eoin McKeon
Galwegians
Connacht
4
1
5
Iain Henderson
Queen’s University
Ulster
4
1
5
James Tracy
UCD
Leinster
4
1
5
Michael Kearney
Clontarf
Leinster
4
1
5
Patrick Jackson
Dungannon
Ulster
3
2
5
Daniel Qualter
Buccaneers
Connacht
2
3
5
David Doyle
UCD
Leinster
2
3
5
James McKinney
Queen’s University
Ulster
2
3
5
Peter Du Toit
UCD
Leinster
0
5
5
Andrew Boyle
UCD
Leinster
4
0
4
Niall Annett (C)
Belfast Harlequins
Ulster
4
0
4
Craig Gilroy
Dungannon
Ulster
3
1
4
Luke Marshall
Ballymena
Ulster
3
1
4
Shane Buckley
Garryowen
Munster
1
3
4
Conor Carey
Ballymena
Ulster
0
4
4
Tiernan O’Halloran
Galwegians
Connacht
3
0
3
Dominic Gallagher
Dublin University
Ulster
2
1
3
JJ Hanrahan
UL Bohemian
Munster
2
1
3
Aaron Conneely
Corinthians
Connacht
2
0
2
Alex Kelly
UCD
Leinster
1
1
2
Finlay Bealham
Belfast Harlequins
Ulster
1
1
2
Jonathan Murphy
Banbridge
Ulster
0
1
1
Check Sum
75
35
110
Ireland U20 2011 JWC Squad – Players Used
Points Scored
Ireland ended the 2011 Junior World Championship with a deficit of 63 points, scoring 120 points but conceding 183. Ireland points came from 11 tries, 10 conversions (91% conversion rate) and 15 penalties.
SCORERS
T
C
P
PTS
Paddy Jackson
1
5
7
36
James McKinney
5
8
34
Andrew Conway
5
25
Andrew Boyle
1
5
Eoin McKeon
1
5
Iain Henderson
1
5
Luke Marshall
1
5
Niall Annett
1
5
Check Sum
11
10
15
120
Ireland U20 2011 JWC Squad – Scorers
Jackson remains the leading scorer, picking up another 36 points despite sharing the kicking duties with McKinney who clocked up 34 points from the boot. Andrew Conway picked up five tries for the second successive World Championship which leaves him joint top try scorer alongside New Zealand’s Zac Guildford.
Season Review
2011 was a season that promised much but delivered little with Ruddock never really finding a settled side which led to a disappointing 33% points pick up. Their points pick up in the Six Nations was 50% with two wins and a draw from the five games and it was a measly 16% in the JWC with only one win from the five games and no bonus points. (Note. No bonus points were awarded during the Six Nations).
Players Used
There were 40 players used throughout the season with only Jordi Murphy in the starting line up for all 10 games. James Tracy and Daniel Qualter appeared in all 10 squads.
PLAYER
CLUB
PROVINCE
START
BENCH
SQUADS
T
C
P
PTS
Jordi Murphy
Lansdowne
Leinster
10
0
10
0
James Tracy
UCD
Leinster
9
1
10
1
5
Daniel Qualter
Buccaneers
Connacht
7
3
10
0
Andrew Boyle
UCD
Leinster
9
0
9
1
5
Michael Kearney
Clontarf
Leinster
8
1
9
0
Patrick Jackson
Dungannon
Ulster
7
2
9
1
10
16
73
Iain Henderson
Queen’s University
Ulster
4
5
9
1
5
Shane Buckley
Garryowen
Munster
4
5
9
1
5
David Doyle
UCD
Leinster
3
6
9
2
10
Niall Annett
Belfast Harlequins
Ulster
8
0
8
3
15
Tadhg Furlong
Clontarf
Leinster
5
3
8
0
Aaron Conneely
Corinthians
Connacht
7
0
7
0
Alex Kelly
UCD
Leinster
6
1
7
0
Tiernan O’Halloran
Galwegians
Connacht
6
1
7
0
JJ Hanrahan
UL Bohemian
Munster
4
3
7
1
1
5
Peter Du Toit
UCD
Leinster
0
7
7
0
Andrew Conway
Blackrock
Leinster
6
0
6
5
25
Craig Gilroy
Dungannon
Ulster
5
1
6
3
15
Eoin McKeon
Galwegians
Connacht
5
1
6
1
5
Luke Marshall
Ballymena
Ulster
5
1
6
1
5
Brendan Macken
Blackrock
Leinster
4
2
6
0
James McKinney
Queen’s University
Ulster
2
4
6
5
8
34
Conor Carey
Ballymena
Ulster
1
5
6
0
Blane McIlroy
Ballymena
Ulster
5
0
5
0
Kieran Marmion
UWIC
Exile
5
0
5
0
Martin Moore
Lansdowne
Leinster
4
0
4
1
5
Michael Sherlock
Clontarf
Leinster
4
0
4
0
Finlay Bealham
Exile
1
3
4
0
Dominic Gallagher
Dublin University
Ulster
2
1
3
0
Cathal O’Flaherty
Cork Constitution
Munster
0
3
3
0
Mark Dolan
Corinthians
Connacht
0
3
3
0
Cathal Marsh
Dublin University
Leinster
1
1
2
0
Colm O’Shea
Old Belvedere
Leinster
0
2
2
0
Gareth Quinn McDonogh
Shannon
Munster
0
2
2
0
David Heffernan
Lansdowne
Connacht
1
0
1
0
David O’Mahony
Cork Constitution
Munster
1
0
1
0
Nathaniel McDonald
Exile
1
0
1
0
James Rael
Garryowen
Munster
0
1
1
0
Jonathan Murphy
Banbridge
Ulster
0
1
1
0
Stephen Lecky
Exiles
0
1
1
0
Penalty Try
0
0
0
1
5
Check Sum
150
70
220
22
16
25
217
2011 Ireland U20 Players Used
Jackson ended the season as leading points scorer with 73 points and Conway was the leading try scorer with 5 tries.
Paddy Jackson
Leading Points scorer
Andrew Conway
Leading Try Scorer
Provincial Contributions
Leinster made the biggest contribution supplying 14 players to the squads, Ulster were next with 10 followed by Munster and Connacht on 6 each and 4 Exiles. (Note: We have Finlay Bealham in the Exiles category throughout.)
The percentage contributions of each Province over the 10 games, in terms of squad appearances and points scored is shown below.
Corrections, comments or questions?