2013 U20 Six Nations

It was one of the stranger Six Nations tournaments for Ireland U20’s who, despite beating the historical “big two”, England and France, in Athlone, lost to Wales and Scotland and drew with Italy on the road. The first three games were very tight and could have went either way.

Results

Fri 03 Feb 2013	Wales	15	Ireland	13	Eirias Stadium
Fri 08 Feb 201	Ireland	16	England	15	Dubarry Park
Fri 22 Feb 2013	Scotland	21	Ireland	20	Netherdale
Fri 08 Feb 2013	Ireland	22	France	5	Dubarry Park
Fri 15 Mar 2013	Italy	25	Ireland	25	Stadio di Avezzano

Standings

TEAM	P	W	D	PD	PTS
England	5	4	0	96	8
Wales	5	4	0	43	8
Ireland	5	2	1	15	5
Scotland	5	2	0	(23)	4
France	5	2	0	(51)	4
Italy	5	0	1	(80)	1

Players Used

Head coach Mike Ruddock used a total of 33 players during the Six Nations. this was 6 more than the previous season and the squad suffered for the second season with players being withdrawn by their clubs with Robbie Henshaw and Stuart Olding pulled from a few squads.

There were 3 exiled players used with Alex O’Meara (Hartpury), George McGuigan (Newcastle Falcons) and Ryan Furniss (Worcester Warriors) all looked at.

It was a comparatively strong turn out for Ulster with 7 Ulster players used along with Belfast Harlequin’s Olding. Malone provided Chris Taylor, Conor Joyce, Jake Caulfield and John Creighton, Ballymena provided John Andrew, Ballynahinch John Donnan and Belfast Harlequins supplied Rory Scholes alongside Olding.

PLAYER	CLUB	PROVINCE	START	BENCH	SQUADS
John Donnan	Ballynahinch	Ulster	5	0	5
Luke McGrath	UCD	Leinster	5	0	5
Rory Scannell	Dolphin	Munster	5	0	5
Rory Scholes	Belfast Harlequins	Ulster	5	0	5
Ryan Murphy	Dolphin	Munster	5	0	5
Tom Daly	Lansdowne	Leinster	5	0	5
Peter Dooley	Lansdowne	Leinster	4	1	5
David Panter	Corinthians	Connacht	3	2	5
Josh van der Flier	UCD	Leinster	3	2	5
Peadar Timmins	UCD	Leinster	3	2	5
John Andrew	Ballymena	Ulster	1	4	5
Chris Taylor	Malone	Ulster	4	0	4
Conor Joyce	Malone	Ulster	4	0	4
Gavin Thornbury	UCD	Leinster	4	0	4
George McGuigan	Newcastle Falcons	Exile	4	0	4
Steve Crosbie	Old Belvedere	Leinster	4	0	4
Darren Sweetnam	UCC	Munster	1	3	4
Ryan Furniss	Worcester Warriors	Exile	1	3	4
Sean McCarthy	Shannon	Munster	1	3	4
Adam Boland	Lansdowne	Connacht	0	4	4
John Creighton	Malone	Ulster	0	4	4
Darragh Leader	Galwegians	Connacht	2	1	3
Mark Roche	Lansdowne	Connacht	1	2	3
Stuart Olding	Belfast Harlequins	Ulster	2	0	2
Brian Scott	UCC	Munster	1	1	2
Eoghan Quinn	Lansdowne	Leinster	0	2	2
Jerry Sexton	St Mary’s College	Leinster	0	2	2
Alex O’Meara	Hartpury	Exiles	1	0	1
Robbie Henshaw	Buccaneers	Connacht	1	0	1
Bryan Byrne	UCD	Leinster	0	1	1
Dave Shanahan	Clontarf	Leinster	0	1	1
Eoghan Masterson	Clontarf	Leinster	0	1	1
Jake Caulfield	Malone	Ulster	0	1	1

Points Scored

Ireland finished the tournament with a 15 point surplus, scoring 98 points and conceding 73 in this tight competition. Their points came from 10 tries, 6 conversions (60% conversion rate) and 12 penalties.

Leinster’s Tom Daly was the main kicker picking up 35 points from the boot to add to a try. Munster’s Rory Scannell also picked up 13 points from the boot. David Panter and Scholes lead the try scoring with 2 each. There was also one penalty try awarded to Ireland during the tournament.

PLAYER	T	C	P	PTS
Tom Daly	1	4	9	40
Rory Scannell		2	3	13
David Panter	2			10
Rory Scholes	2			10
Conor Joyce	1			5
Jerry Sexton	1			5
Luke McGrath	1			5
Penalty Try	1			5
Ryan Murphy	1			5
TOTAL	10	6	12	98

2013 IRB Junior World Championship

The 2013 IRB Junior World championship was held in France. Ireland were placed in Pool B in the alongside new Zealand, Australia and Fiji. They started the competition well with wins against Australia and Fuji but a defeat by New Zealand in the final pool game saw Ireland fail to qualify for the Top 4 on points difference, for the second year running.

Ireland lost to hosts France in a dour game in the 5th place play off semi final and Australia overturned their pool defeat by beating Ireland in the 7th place final which left Ireland in 8th place.

Once again Ireland U20’s were without their big guns with Robbie Henshaw and Stuart Olding selected for a senior tour of Canada and the USA.

Results

Wed 05 Jun 2013	Ireland	19	Australia	15	Stade de la Rabine
Sun 09 Jun 2013	Ireland	46	Fiji	3	Stade de la Rabine
Thu 13 Jun 2013	New Zealand	31	Ireland	26	Stade de la Rabine
Tue 18 Jun 2013	Ireland	8	France	9	Stade de la Rabine
Sun 23 Jun 2013	Australia	28	Ireland	17	Stade Henri Desgranges

Pool Standings

POOL B	P	W	PD	BP	PTS
New Zealand	3	3	62	2	14
Ireland	3	2	47	2	10
Australia	3	1	(36)	2	7
Fiji	3	0	(130)	0	0

Final Rankings

1. England, 2. Wales, 3. South Africa, 4. New Zealand, 5. France, 6. Argentina, 7. Australia, 8. Ireland, 9. Samoa, 10. Scotland, 11. Fiji, 12. USA.

Players Used

There were 29 players used in the JWC, the squad seeing substantial changes to the one used in the Six Nations. Out went O’Meara, Scott, Masterson, Quinn, Caulfield, Sexton, Andrew, Creighton, Dooley, Henshaw and Olding and in came Adam Byrne, Alex Wootton, Dan Leavy, Edward Byrne, Jack O’Donoghue, Peter Dooley and Thomas Farrell.

PLAYER	CLUB	PROVINCE	START	BENCH	SQUADS
Conor Joyce	Malone	Ulster	5	0	5
Rory Scholes	Belfast Harlequins	Ulster	5	0	5
Steve Crosbie	Old Belvedere	Leinster	5	0	5
John Donnan	Ballynahinch	Ulster	4	1	5
Josh van der Flier	UCD	Leinster	4	1	5
Luke McGrath	UCD	Leinster	4	1	5
Rory Scannell	Dolphin	Munster	4	1	5
Bryan Byrne	UCD	Leinster	3	2	5
Edward Byrne	UCD	Leinster	2	3	5
George McGuigan	Newcastle Falcons	Exile	2	3	5
David Shanahan	Clontarf	Leinster	1	4	5
Mark Roche	Lansdowne	Connacht	1	4	5
Chris Taylor	Malone	Ulster	4	0	4
Thomas Farrell	Lansdowne	Leinster	4	0	4
Dan Leavy	UCD	Leinster	3	1	4
Peter Dooley	Lansdowne	Leinster	3	1	4
Sean McCarthy	Shannon	Munster	2	2	4
Adam Boland	Lansdowne	Connacht	1	3	4
Peadar Timmins	UCD	Leinster	1	3	4
Adam Byrne	UCD	Leinster	3	0	3
Gavin Thornbury	UCD	Leinster	3	0	3
Darragh Leader	Galwegians	Connacht	2	1	3
Darren Sweetnam	UCC	Munster	2	1	3
Ryan Murphy	Dolphin	Munster	2	1	3
David Panter	Corinthians	Connacht	0	3	3
Ryan Furniss	Worcester Warriors	Exile	0	3	3
Alex Wootton	Northampton Saints	Exile	2	0	2
Tom Daly	Lansdowne	Leinster	2	0	2
Jack O’Donoghue	UL Bohemian	Munster	1	1	2

Points Scored

Ireland U20 scored a total of 116 points throughout the tournament and conceded 86. The points came from 12 tries, 4 conversions (33% conversion rate) and 16 penalties.

PLAYER	T	C	P	PTS
Rory Scannell		2	9	31
Tom Daly		2	7	25
Rory Scholes	4			20
Dan Leavy	2			10
Darren Sweetnam	2			10
Chris Taylor	1			5
Ed Byrne	1			5
Ryan Murphy	1			5
Thomas Farrell	1			5
TOTAL	12	4	16	116

An early injury to Daly saw Scannell take over kicking duties and the Munster man ended the tournament as Irelands leading scorer with 31 points. Ulster’s Scholes ended the tournament as the leading try scorer, picking up four tries in the five games.