Two front-row changes as Ireland U20s gear up for England clash
Ireland U20s head coach Richie Murphy has made two changes to his starting line-up for tomorrow evening’s mouthwatering Six Nations Championship showdown with England at Cardiff Arms Park (kick-off 8pm).
Having missed out on the first 15 for last Friday’s bonus point triumph over host country Wales, Leinster props Temi Lasisi and Sam Illo return to the Irish front-row. Both players impressed in the opening round success against Scotland and are now restored to the team in place of Jack Boyle and Mark Donnelly respectively.
The return of Garryowen tighthead Donnelly to the replacements bench means captain Alex Kendellen will be Munster’s sole starter on the night for Ireland. However, joining Donnelly amongst the reserves are UCC’s Jack Kelleher and Daniel Okeke of Shannon.
The potent back-three of Jamie Osborne, Ben Moxham, and Chris Cosgrave is retained for a second game in succession, while the versatile Alex Soroka continues his second-row partnership with Harry Sheridan.
Both teams come into this contest with a maximum haul of 10 points from the opening two rounds and Murphy is eager for his troops to maintain their current level of progress.
“We have been pleased with our start to the Championship, but we know we must continue to make improvements week-on-week, starting on Thursday evening against a very strong England side,” Murphy said.
“The squad have worked incredibly hard on optimising our recovery in between matches and we go into Thursday’s game confident that we are moving in the right direction.”
From an English perspective, head coach Alan Dickens has drafted four players into his starting team. Despite recording a convincing 31-12 win against Scotland last week, he has opted to bring in Charlie Atkinson (full-back), Tom Litchfield (wing), Arthur Clark (second-row), and Nahum Merigan (number 8).
15. Jamie Osborne (Naas CBS/Naas RFC/Leinster) 14. Ben Moxham (Larne High School/Ballymena RFC/Ulster) 13. Shane Jennings (Garbally College/Buccaneers RFC/Connacht) 12. Cathal Forde (Colaiste Iognaid/Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht) 11. Chris Cosgrave (St. Michael’s College/UCD RFC/Leinster) 10. Tim Corkery (St. Kieran’s College, Kilkenny/UCD RFC/Leinster) 9. Nathan Doak (Wallace High School/Banbridge RFC/Ulster) 1. Temi Lasisi (CBS Enniscorthy/Lansdowne FC/Leinster) 2. Ronan Loughnane (Cistercian College Roscrea/UCD RFC/Leinster) 3. Sam Illo (Wesley College/Old Wesley RFC/Leinster) 4. Alex Soroka (Belvedere College/Clontarf RFC/Leinster) 5. Harry Sheridan (Sullivan Upper School/Dublin University FC/Ulster) 6. Donnacha Byrne (Summerhill College/Sligo RFC/Connacht) 7. Oisin McCormack (Garbally College/Buccaneers RFC/Connacht) 8. Alex Kendellen (PBC Cork/UCC RFC/Munster)(Captain)
16. Eoin de Buitléar (Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin/An Ghaeltacht/Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht) 17. Jack Boyle (St. Michael’s College/UCD RFC/Leinster) 18. Mark Donnelly (CBC Cork/Garryowen FC/Munster) 19. Mark Morrissey (Blackrock College/UCD RFC/Leinster) 20. Reuben Crothers (Wallace High School/Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster) 21. Conor McKee (Sullivan Upper School/Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster) 22. Ben Carson (Wallace High School/Banbridge RFC/Ulster) 23. Jude Postlethwaite (RBAI/Banbridge RFC/Ulster) 24. Jack Kelleher (PBC Cork/UCC RFC/Munster) 25. Daniel Okeke (Ardscoil Ris/Shannon RFC/Munster) 26. Chay Mullins (SGC Filton/Bristol Bears/IQ Rugby).
C Atkinson; T Litchfield, J Bates, D Lancaster, A Relton; F Smith, J van Poortvliet; P Brantingham, S Riley, H Kindell-Beaton; A Clark, A Groves; E Richards, J Clement, N Merigan.
A Vanes, T Haffar, L Green, F Thomas, O Stonham, J Gray, T Carr-Smith, T Mathews, P Cokanasiga, T Roebuck, O Bailey.