Despite finishing top of their group, in the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship it was a pretty poor year for Ireland U20’s with only 4 wins out of 10 games played. They recorded two wins in the 2014 U20 Six Nations, which saw them finish 4th, and two wins and a losing bonus point in the group stages of the JWC. They lost both their knock out games in the JWC for a 4th 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 Wednesday 3rd March 2021 and has been entered retrospectively into the appropriate timeline.
2014 U20 Six Nations
It wasn’t a great Six Nations from the Irish youngsters with only wins against Scotland and Italy to show for their efforts. Their “best” game was against France so their was some hope for the JWC.
Results
Fri, 31 Jan 2014. Ireland U20 34 – 7 Scotland U20, Dubarry Park
Fri, 7 Feb 2014. Ireland U20 0 – 16 Wales U20, Dubarry Park
Sat, 22 Feb 2014. England U20 33 – 9 Ireland U20, Franklin Gardens
Fri, 7 Mar 2014. Ireland U20 18 – 0 Italy U20, Dubarry Park
Fri, 14 Mar 2014. France U20 23 – 17 Ireland U20, Maurice Trelut, Tarbes
Standings
TEAM
PL
W
PD
PTS
France
5
5
61
10
England
5
4
158
8
Wales
5
3
(5)
6
Ireland
5
2
(5)
4
Italy
5
1
(97)
2
Scotland
5
0
(112)
0
2014 U20 Six Nations – Final Standings
Players Used
Head coach Mike Ruddock used a total of 31 players in the 2014 Six Nations campaign. This was two fewer than 2013.
There was only one exile player used, Joe Joyce (Bristol) and it was a very poor year for Ulster involvement with only Queen’s University’s David Busby and Belfast Harlequins Frankie Taggart, himself an import from Whitgift School, South Croydon, who came into the Ulster Academy at the beginning of the 2013 season through the Irish Exiles programme.
PLAYER
CLUB
PROVINCE
START
BENCH
SQUADS
Max Abbott
Cork Constitution
Munster
5
0
5
Peadar Timmins
UCD
Leinster
5
0
5
Peter Dooley
Lansdowne
Leinster
5
0
5
Peter Robb
Old Belvedere
Leinster
5
0
5
Rory Burke
Cork Constitution
Munster
5
0
5
Ross Molony
UCD
Leinster
5
0
5
David Busby
Queen’s University
Ulster
4
1
5
Nick McCarthy
UCD
Leinster
4
1
5
Ross Byrne
UCD
Leinster
4
1
5
Dan Goggin
Young Munster
Munster
3
2
5
Conor McKeon
Lansdowne
Leinster
1
4
5
Jack Cullen
Shannon
Munster
1
4
5
Oisin Heffernan
Lansdowne
Leinster
0
5
5
Adam Byrne
UCD
Leinster
4
0
4
Cian Kelleher
Lansdowne
Leinster
4
0
4
Jack O’Donoghue
UL Bohemian
Munster
4
0
4
Sean O’Brien
Galwegians
Connacht
4
0
4
Frankie Taggart
Belfast Harlequins
Ulster
1
3
4
Denis Coulson
Lansdowne
Leinster
0
4
4
Sean McNulty
UCD
Munster
0
4
4
Dan Leavy
UCD
Leinster
3
0
3
Rory Moloney
Buccaneers
Connacht
2
1
3
Joe Joyce
Bristol
Exile
0
3
3
Stephen Gardiner
Lansdowne
Leinster
0
3
3
Garry Ringrose
UCD
Leinster
2
0
2
Ian Fitzpatrick
Lansdowne
Leinster
2
0
2
Harrison Brewer
Terenure College
Leinster
0
2
2
Alex Wootton
Garryowen
Munster
1
0
1
Michael Trigg
Lansdowne
Leinster
1
0
1
Jacob Walshe
Buccaneers
Connacht
0
1
1
Shane Delahunt
Lansdowne
Leinster
0
1
1
Ireland U20 2014 Six Nations Squad – Players Used
Points Scored
Ireland finished the tournament on minus five points having conceded 79 points against 74 scored. The points came from a paltry 7 tries, 6 conversions (85% conversion rate) and 9 penalties.
Ross Byrne was the leading points scorer with 36 points from the boot and No. 8 Jack O’Donoghue was the leading try scorer with 2. Ulster’s Taggart also got on the scoreboard with a try against France.
The 2014 IRB Junior World Championship was held in New Zealand and it’s one that could have easily passed you by, despite Ireland’s highest finish to date, due to the time difference.
Ireland found themselves in Group B, probably the most favourable group, alongside France, Wales and Fiji. Despite this, I didn’t expect them to do well having lost to France and Wales in the Six Nations. However, they exceeded expectations picking up a losing bonus against France and try bonus wins against Wales and Fiji to top the group. This saw them qualify for the Top 4 for the first time.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got, heavy defeats followed against England and New Zealand in the knock out stages.
Results
Mon, 2 Jun 2014. France U20 19 – 13 Ireland U20, QBE Stadium, Auckland
Fri, 6 Jun 2014. Ireland U20 35 – 19 Wales U20, 14 ECOLight Stadium, Pukekohe
Ireland scored a total of 124 points during the tournament and conceded 125. Ireland’s points came from 14 tries, including 4 penalty tries, 12 conversions (conversion rate 86%), and 10 penalties. No drop goals!
PLAYER
T
C
P
PTS
Ross Byrne
7
8
38
Garry Ringrose
3
4
1
26
Penalty Try
4
20
Cian Kelleher
2
10
Conor McKeon
1
1
1
10
Rory Burke
1
5
Ciaran Gaffney
1
5
Alex Wootton
1
5
Oisin Heffernan
1
5
TOTAL
14
12
10
124
Ireland U20 2014 JWC Squad – Scorers
Ross Byrne was the leading points scorer with 38 points from the boot. Garry Ringrose took over some of the kicking duties but also banged in 3 tries for 26 points but the leading try scorer was Mr Penalty Try who crossed 4 times, three of those coming against Fuji if I remember correctly.
Despite their Top 4 finish in the World Championships it was a sub par season for Ireland’s youngsters in terms of match points pick up with only 4 wins over the 10 games.
Their 2 wins in the 6 Nations gave them a 40% return for that tournament and the 11 match points picked up in the World Championship was only a 44% return on match points. This gives an overall match point pick up of 42% for the season which is their 2nd lowest since 2010.
Players Used
There were 39 players used over the two tournaments, including 1 exile, which was pretty much power for the course.
There was more stability in selection tan usual with 8 players involved in every squad and 16 players involved in 70% of the squads. shout out to Lansdowne’s Peter Dooley and UCD’s Ross Molony who started every match.
PLAYER
CLUB
PROVINCE
START
BENCH
SQUADS
T
C
P
PTS
Peter Dooley
Lansdowne
Leinster
10
0
10
0
Ross Molony
UCD
Leinster
10
0
10
0
Max Abbott
Cork Constitution
Munster
9
1
10
0
Ross Byrne
UCD
Leinster
9
1
10
13
16
74
Nick McCarthy
UCD
Leinster
8
2
10
0
Rory Burke
Cork Constitution
Munster
8
2
10
1
5
Dan Goggin
Young Munster
Munster
7
3
10
0
Conor McKeon
Lansdowne
Leinster
1
9
10
1
1
2
13
Cian Kelleher
Lansdowne
Leinster
9
0
9
3
15
Peadar Timmins
UCD
Leinster
9
0
9
1
5
Frankie Taggart
Belfast Harlequins
Ulster
5
4
9
1
5
Oisin Heffernan
Lansdowne
Leinster
1
8
9
2
10
Denis Coulson
Lansdowne
Leinster
0
9
9
0
Jack O’Donoghue
UL Bohemian
Munster
8
0
8
2
10
Garry Ringrose
UCD
Leinster
7
0
7
3
4
1
26
Stephen Gardiner
Lansdowne
Leinster
3
4
7
0
Rory Moloney
Buccaneers
Connacht
4
2
6
0
Harrison Brewer
Terenure College
Leinster
1
5
6
0
Alex Wootton
Garryowen
Munster
5
0
5
1
5
Ciaran Gaffney
Galwegians
Connacht
5
0
5
1
5
Peter Robb
Old Belvedere
Leinster
5
0
5
0
David Busby
Queen’s University
Ulster
4
1
5
0
Darragh Moloney
Cork Constitution
Munster
2
3
5
0
Dylan Donnellan
UCD
Leinster
1
4
5
0
Jack Cullen
Shannon
Munster
1
4
5
0
Ryan Foley
Cork Constitution
Munster
1
4
5
0
Adam Byrne
UCD
Leinster
4
0
4
1
5
Sean O’Brien
Galwegians
Connacht
4
0
4
0
Sean McNulty
UCD
Munster
0
4
4
0
Dan Leavy
UCD
Leinster
3
0
3
0
Ian Fitzpatrick
Lansdowne
Leinster
3
0
3
0
Josh Murphy
UCD
Leinster
1
2
3
0
Joe Joyce
Bristol
Exile
0
3
3
0
Diarmaid Dee
Young Munster
Munster
0
2
2
0
Craig Trenier
Terenure
Leinster
1
0
1
0
Michael Trigg
Lansdowne
Leinster
1
0
1
0
Billy Dardis
UCD
Leinster
0
1
1
0
Jacob Walshe
Buccaneers
Connacht
0
1
1
0
Shane Delahunt
Lansdowne
Leinster
0
1
1
0
Penalty Try
0
0
0
4
20
TOTAL
150
80
230
21
18
19
198
2014 Ireland U20 – Players Used
UCD’s Ross Byrne was the leading scorer with 74 points from 13 conversions and 16 penalties. The most tries came in the form of penalty tries with 4 awarded to Ireland over the season. Cian Kelleher and Garry Ringrose shared the individual leading try scorer with 3 tries each.
Ross Byrne
2014 Leading Points Scorer
Garry Ringrose
2014 Joint Leading Try Scorer
Cian Kelleher
2014 Joint Leading Try Scorer
Provincial Contributions
Leinster dominated the U20 squad with 22 players involved. Munster were next up with 10 players, Connacht with 4 Ulster with 2 and Exiles with 1.
It was a pretty pitiful turn out for Ulster with only Queen’s University’s Busby and Belfast Harlequins Taggart selected over the season. Busby’s season was cut short after picking up an injury ahead of the World Championships. This gave Ulster a disappointing 6% squad contribution and in terms of minutes played it was probably nearer half this.
Taggart was Ulster’s only scorer, with one try, giving Ulster a disappoints 3% overall points contribution.
Corrections, comments or questions?