While most of Ireland, North and South, are starting to focus on the 2016 EURO’s in France, the rugby aficionados amongst us will be getting prepared and booking their flights for Manchester and the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.

This will be our seventh year of coverage of this competition and I must say it has never disappointed, irrespective of the results of the Ireland team. This season I’m expecting a cracker, hopefully featuring a young Irish side playing an exiting brand of rugby.

The current crop of youngsters didn’t get off to the best of starts in the Six Nations, losing to Wales and France, but throughout the opening rounds Nigel Carolan‘s charges always maintained an emphasis on high risk rugby. Their fortunes changed with an away win against England and they extended their run with wins against Italy and Scotland, which see’s them go into the competition with a bit of form about them.

Player appearances 2015 – 16

Player appearances in the 2016 U20 Six Nations, either as a starting player (S) or as a replacement (R).

Position	Player	Province	WAL	FRA	ENG	ITA	SCO	S	R	TOT
LHP	Andrew Porter	Leinster	S	S	S	S	R	4	1	5
LHP	James Bolland	Leinster	R	R	R	R	S	1	4	5
LHP	Vakh Abdaladze	Leinster	–	–	–	–	–	0	0	0
H	Adam McBurney	Ulster	S	S	S	S	S	5	0	5
H	Vincent O’Brien	Munster	–	–	–	–	–	0	0	0
THP	Conor Kenny	Connacht	R	S	–	–	–	1	1	2
THP	Ben Betts	Munster	–	–	R	R	–	0	2	2
SR	James Ryan	Leinster	S	S	S	S	S	5	0	5
SR	Sean O’Connor	Munster	R	R	R	R	S	1	4	5
SR	Evan Mintern	Munster	–	–	–	–	–	0	0	0
BR	Cillian Gallagher	Connacht	S	S	S	S	S	5	0	5
BR	Greg Jones	Leinster	–	–	S	S	S	3	0	3
BR	Conall Boomer	Ulster	–	–	–	–	–	0	0	0
BR	Max Deegan	Leinster	S	S	–	R	R	2	2	4
BR	Kelvin Brown	Munster	R	R	R	–	–	0	3	3
BR	David Aspil	Leinster						0	0	0
SH	Stephen Kerins	Connacht	R	R	S	–	S	2	2	4
SH	Niall Saunders	Exile	–	–	–	R	–	0	1	1
OH	Bill Johnston	Munster	–	–	–	–	–	0	0	0
OH	Johnny McPhillips	Ulster	S	S	S	S	S	5	0	5
UB	Conor O’Brien	Leinster	R	S	S	S	S	4	1	5
UB	Shane Daly	Munster	S	S	S	S	S	5	0	5
UB	Jimmy O’Brien	Leinster	S	S	S	–	–	3	0	3
UB	Paul Kiernan	Munster	–	–	–	–	–	0	0	0
UB	Jacob Stockdale	Ulster	–	–	–	S	S	2	0	2
UB	Terry Kennedy	Leinster	–	R	–	R	–	0	2	2
UB	Hugo Keenan	Leinster	S	S	S	S	S	5	0	5
UB	Matthew Byrne	Leinster	S	S	R	–	R	2	2	4

The main losses to the squad, that featured in the Six Nations, have to be injured, tight head prop, Conan O’Donnell and, second row, Peter Claffey who both featured, with some effect, in all Ireland’s games and, though he didn’t feature in the Six Nations due to injury, the non-availability of Ulster’s Sam Arnold is another big blow.

However the inclusion of Muster players, Bill Johnston, at out half, and Evan Mintern, in the second row, should help. Johnston’s inclusion creating the option of Johnny McPhillips as a playmaker in the centre. The full time involvement of Ulster’s Jacob Stockdale, who missed the first three rounds of the Six Nations due to senior Ulster appearances, also adds a strong attacking option, either from out wide or full back.

The Pools

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C
Georgia	Australia	Argentina
Ireland	England	France
New Zealand	Italy	Japan
Wales	Scotland	South Africa

It’s an old cliché, but there really are no easy groups at this level, however Ireland can count themselves particularly unlucky to be placed in such a difficult group.

They face the current World Champions, New Zealand, the current Six Nations Champions, Wales, and the recently promoted and looking to impress, Georgia, who host the competition next year.

However, it’s not about the results at this stage but about the performance. This is a hugely attritional tournament, with five matches played over 18 days with ridiculously small squads, and, historically, those teams with a big physical presence have tended to do well.

This is reflected in Ireland’s record, which is nothing to write home about, with the following finishes over the eight years of the competition:

Year	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Ireland	9th	8th	9th	8th	5th	8th	4th	7th

I’d guess this time round that the team will be targeting a top six finish which would be a realistic goal.

The Fixtures.

Ireland’s fixtures in Pool A will all take place at the Manchester City Academy Stadium as follows;

Tue 7 Jun	17:30	Wales	v	Ireland
Sat 11 Jun	13:30	New Zealand	v	Ireland
Wed 15 Jun	17:30	Ireland	v	Georgia

• Semi-Finals take place on Monday 20^th June
• Finals Day on Saturday 25^th
• Locations and opponents depend on pool ranking
• Matches broadcast on Sky Sports, S4C and TG4

No gentle introductions there – straight in against Wales and then four days later it’s the All Blacks before a bruising encounter with the Georgians!  😯 

However that all important first game does tend to set the tone and, despite losing to Wales in the Six Nations, I believe that Ireland have reason to be confident – unfortunately you are going to have to wait until the team announcements before I tell you how Ireland are going to win that one!