Stewart relishing England road trip
By Daire Walsh
Having relied on home comforts to date, the Ireland U20s face a fresh obstacle in tomorrow night’s Six Nations clash against England (kick-off 7.45pm).
Whereas Musgrave Park was the port of call for wins over Scotland and Wales, Noel McNamara’s defending champions head for Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton for their maiden away tussle of 2020.
This encounter is always marked down as the biggest challenge in the tournament, but Irish hooker Tom Stewart is confident the visitors can dictate the terms of engagement in the East Midlands.
“The boys know, going away especially, it’s going to be a lot different atmosphere to down in Cork on a Friday night. With 5,000 people, or whatever it is, behind you. I think we just know that we’re trying to keep things within ourselves,” Stewart stressed.
“High tempo and high energy, in everything we do in training. It’s just force of habit through training, that we know on Friday night that we don’t have to worry about it. We’re just going to do it, with that buzz and that energy around each other.”
Alongside fellow Munster prospect Jack Crowley, towering second-row Thomas Ahern has been one of the stars of Ireland’s campaign to date.
The Waterford native featured in the back-line before switching to his current position in 2017 and showcased his attacking instincts with a superb solo try in the opening win over Scotland.
The Shannon club man is also a frequent target off Stewart’s line-outs and the pair have established a strong connection on their way through the underage ranks.
“I played U18 Schools with Tom Ahern. I have a good relationship with him and Tom is a great guy as well. You can go to him with anything. If the throw is too low, if the throw is too high. Whatever.
With a brace of bonus-point wins under their belts, Ireland are in excellent form for their forthcoming trip across the water. Yet Stewart is adamant the best is yet to come from a developing team.
“We know where we are now. We can say we’re happy with where we are, but we’re not happy. We know we’ve 20 or 30% to grow on. We know we can get that much better in the little things that we’re doing as well.
“We just know every step of the way we’ve gotten better with every game. We know that we’re building and building,” the Ulster Academy star added.