Tucker thrilled to keep senior company
By Daire Walsh
Ireland U20s forward coach Colm Tucker has said last week’s training exercise with the senior international side was the perfect primer ahead of their Six Nations clash against England at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).
Originally scheduled to take place as an open training session in Cork IT, the joint venture was moved to the nearby Musgrave Park — Ireland’s new home home for U20s rugby.
Despite the last-minute change in venue, Tucker believes they are in a better place as a result of locking horns with Andy Farrell’s squad.
“We got a huge amount out of it. First of all, just the experience of training against that intensity and the pace they brought.
“A lot of that was around their own mindset. We had to really view them as our peers and be a challenge for them as well.
“It ended up that way,” Tucker explained yesterday from the team’s training base in Abbotstown.
“We made a couple of mistakes early on, coughed up a little bit of possession and we got punished very, very quickly. That was a huge learning for us. When we looked after the ball and backed ourselves, we got a lot of value.”
As they aim to continue their bid for successive Grand Slam and Six Nations crowns, Ireland are expected to have a relatively full hand to pick from. While Leinster flanker Mark Hernan (back) is in a race against time for the trip to the East Midlands, a host of players will return to the fold for their first away clash of the tournament.
“We are welcoming back Ethan McIlroy and Hayden Hyde from the last day. Niall Comerford is back in full training and Max O’Reilly.
“We have a couple of selection headaches this week, which is brilliant,” the Limerick native said.