2013 was a mixed season for Ireland U20’s. In the Six Nations they beat England and France at Dubarry Park but failed to record a win on the road losing to Wales and Scotland and drawing with Italy leaving them with a 3rd place finish. In the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship they won their first two games but lost the next three for a disappointing 8th place finish.
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 Monday 22nd February 2021 and has been entered retrospectively into the appropriate timeline.
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
2013 U20 Six Nations – Final Standings
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 this was 6 more than the previous season and the squad suffered for the second season with players being withdrawn by their clubs with Robbie Henshaw and Stuart Olding pulled from a few squads.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.
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
Ireland U20 2013 Six Nations Squad – Scorers
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
2013 JWC – Pool B Standings
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
Ireland U20 2013 JWC Squad – Players Used
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
Ireland U20 2013 JWC Squad – Scorers
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.
Season Review
It was a comparatively poor season for Ireland U20’s results wise with a 47% points pick up over the 10 games. However, with a few extra points here and there they could have matched the previous season’s highs.
They ended the season with a 50% points pick up in the Six Nations and a 44% points pick up in the World Championship.
Players Used
There were 39 players used throughout the season including 4 exiles as Ruddock attempted to spread the net having been denied players in Ireland.
Only one player, Scholes, started all the games but a further four, Donnan, Luke McGrath, Scannell and Josh van der Flier were involved in all 10 squads.
PLAYER
CLUB
PROVINCE
START
BENCH
SQUADS
T
C
P
PTS
Rory Scholes
Belfast Harlequins
Ulster
10
0
10
6
30
John Donnan
Ballynahinch
Ulster
9
1
10
0
Luke McGrath
UCD
Leinster
9
1
10
1
5
Rory Scannell
Dolphin
Munster
9
1
10
4
12
44
Josh van der Flier
UCD
Leinster
7
3
10
0
Conor Joyce
Malone
Ulster
9
0
9
1
5
Steve Crosbie
Old Belvedere
Leinster
9
0
9
0
Peter Dooley
Lansdowne
Leinster
7
2
9
0
George McGuigan
Newcastle Falcons
Exile
6
3
9
0
Peadar Timmins
UCD
Leinster
4
5
9
0
Chris Taylor
Malone
Ulster
8
0
8
1
5
Ryan Murphy
Dolphin
Munster
7
1
8
2
10
David Panter
Corinthians
Connacht
3
5
8
2
10
Sean McCarthy
Shannon
Munster
3
5
8
0
Mark Roche
Lansdowne
Connacht
2
6
8
0
Adam Boland
Lansdowne
Connacht
1
7
8
0
Gavin Thornbury
UCD
Leinster
7
0
7
0
Tom Daly
Lansdowne
Leinster
7
0
7
1
6
16
65
Darren Sweetnam
UCC
Munster
3
4
7
2
10
Ryan Furniss
Worcester Warriors
Exile
1
6
7
0
Darragh Leader
Galwegians
Connacht
4
2
6
0
Bryan Byrne
UCD
Leinster
3
3
6
0
Dave Shanahan
Clontarf
Leinster
1
5
6
0
Edward Byrne
UCD
Leinster
2
3
5
1
5
John Andrew
Ballymena
Ulster
1
4
5
0
Thomas Farrell
Lansdowne
Leinster
4
0
4
1
5
Dan Leavy
UCD
Leinster
3
1
4
2
10
John Creighton
Malone
Ulster
0
4
4
0
Adam Byrne
UCD
Leinster
3
0
3
0
Alex Wootton
Northampton Saints
Exile
2
0
2
0
Stuart Olding
Belfast Harlequins
Ulster
2
0
2
0
Brian Scott
UCC
Munster
1
1
2
0
Jack O’Donoghue
UL Bohemian
Munster
1
1
2
0
Eoghan Quinn
Lansdowne
Leinster
0
2
2
0
Jerry Sexton
St Mary’s College
Leinster
0
2
2
1
5
Alex O’Meara
Hartpury
Exile
1
0
1
0
Robbie Henshaw
Buccaneers
Connacht
1
0
1
0
Eoghan Masterson
Clontarf
Leinster
0
1
1
0
Jake Caulfield
Malone
Ulster
0
1
1
0
Penalty Try
0
1
5
TOTAL
150
80
230
22
10
28
214
2013 Ireland U20 – Players Used
Despite picking up an injury in the World championship Tom Daly ended the season as the leading points scorer with 65 points from a try, 6 conversions and 16 penalties. Rory Scholes was the leading try scorer with 6 tries from the 10 games.
Tom Daly
Leading Points Scorer 2013
Rory Scholes
Leading Try Scorer 2013
Provincial Contributions
Leinster once again topped the player contributions, supplying 16 players to the squads. Ulster were next with 8 players, Munster with 6, Connacht with 5 and 4 Exiles.
Ulster’s contribution remained at 26% actual starts with Leinster out in front with 44% starts. Despite contributing 38% of all tries Ulster’s points contribution dropped to 19% with Leinster and Munster players taking over the kicking duties.
Corrections, comments or questions?