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England U20 vs Ireland U20

TRF_Olyy

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England:


Would've expected Farrell and Ford to be the other way round


Ireland:
 
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Can't speak of the England team because I don't know much about them but they did hockey Ireland during the 6 Nations. Ireland have a really good backline but fairly poor pack. I've read that during the last few weeks they were coached quite a bit by Gert Smal so maybe that will help the forwards pick up a bit from their 6 Nations form. Les Kiss has also been helping the defence.
 
As usual our forwards will get minced at this level, our backline looks very good though with a lot of P12 experience, still I reckon a win for England. Anybody know if there's any potential provincial players in the Forwards?
 
Both props for England have had a fair bit of experience for their clubs (starting more than their fair share of the season) - seems like England has the experience up front, whereas Ireland have it in the backs (think I recognise as many Irish players as English there)
 
Believe it is.

Reshuffled Irish pack, might be a bit more competitive. McKeon's held his own against Samoa. Isn't someone here a Trinity man? Heard plenty about Dom Gallagher but never seen him play.

Realistically, I expect this to be a little rapey. Not completely confident though.
 
Anybody know if there's any potential provincial players in the Forwards?
Annett and McKeon are the best bets. Murphy is a good player but will have to leave Leinster to get regular rugby. Furlong is a very good prospect but it's very hard to tell with props. I'm not quite so convinced about the other forwards though the backup hooker Doyle isn't too bad.
 
Sky sports 4 starting at 5pm and free on the IRB website.
 
Nice backline for Ireland, why is Conway on the wing and Gilroy at FB surly it would be the other way round? Also Why is this Ford guy starting over Farrel, hes been very impressive every time I see him.

Still expect us to lose in the pack, are none of Leinsters many young backrowers U20?
 
Conway is a winger, simple as. As for the backrow, both Domonic Ryan and Rhys Ruddock are a year over age. A shame, they'd have been cracking to bring again. I like Jordi Murphy, but he won't see much gametime for Leinster with all that is ahead of him.
 
Wasn't he playing a lot of FB though for Ireland and Leinster I agree that hes a winger but I've never seen Gilroy at FB. A shame about Ryan and Ruddock would have added a lot to the backrow.
 
Normal service will be resumed next year when Conor Gilsenan and Jordan Coughlan are Leinster representatives in the u20 backrow. For now we'll just make do with one Leinster player (Jordi Murphy) and one player who's learning his trade in Leinster (Dominic Gallagher).
 
Farrell on the bench is an interesting choice...
Looking forward to seeing Charlie Matthews in action. He's a guy with a bright future, assuming all goes well.
 
I presume Farrell is on the bench as he covers 10 and 12 (and I think Ford only plays 10?) - however Farrell could start at 10 and then move to the centres when Ford comes on, or something

Ford is by no means a bad player, but you would've thought that they'd go for Farrell who has more big game experience
 
I presume Farrell is on the bench as he covers 10 and 12 (and I think Ford only plays 10?) - however Farrell could start at 10 and then move to the centres when Ford comes on, or something

Ford is by no means a bad player, but you would've thought that they'd go for Farrell who has more big game experience

I'm not too surprised that Farrell is on the bench, as Ford played every match for the U20 side during the six-nations, so would have built some good combinations with the rest of the backline (and must have played pretty well, as they were unbeaten). In contrast Farrell was playing club rugby; he has probably only had the last week with the team to build combinations (rather than the few months that Ford has had). I'm sure though as the tournament progresses Farrell will be preferred to Ford for the important matches (once he learns the names of his team-mates ;) )
 
Normal service will be resumed next year when Conor Gilsenan and Jordan Coughlan are Leinster representatives in the u20 backrow. For now we'll just make do with one Leinster player (Jordi Murphy) and one player who's learning his trade in Leinster (Dominic Gallagher).

They might be good but theres a big difference between taking on schoolboys and playing U20 internationals against England.
 
Jordi Murphy impressed me during the 6 nations this year and Annett was also good but that's about it in the pack really. Luke Marshall is really a handfull for defenses. He is very strong and has quick acceleration onto the ball. He basically single handedly shredded Italy's defense in the 6 nations while his team mates struggled to get into top gear. He also has a good step to take him outside of the defense which allows him to either pop the ball to a player in a gap or burst though/over the gain.
 
Surprised that Farrell isn't starting. But can see why ford would be preferred. Plus Farrell does play for Saracens...
 

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