Under-20 Six Nations: Ireland v Italy, Virgin Media Park, Friday, 7.45pm – Live on RTÉ 2
While there were some painful lessons in Perpignan last week, elements of Ireland’s performance in a 50-21 defeat to France augur well for the weeks ahead, starting with the visit of Italy to Cork on Friday evening.
Discipline and Ireland’s aerial fragility were two aspects that caused self-inflicted woes, shortcomings that have been addressed during the week. “Discipline was a massive one,” admitted Irish head coach Andrew Browne, outlining how almost half were for offside, a transgression that was eminently avoidable.
“Those are the real frustrating ones because it just gives France such easy access [into our 22]. We did well at times with our maul defence against a good French pack. Ultimately, if you give so many of them away, they’re only going to score.
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“We just need to clean up that area and then the other one you touched on as well is the aerial battle. The lads have put a huge amount of work into that, the coaches and players, in trying to rectify that this week in securing the ball, not giving away easy possession. And if we can hold on to possession, I thought we showed glimpses of how dangerous we could be.”
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Browne has made three changes and a positional switch for the game. Cashel’s Rob Carney wasn’t named in the original Six Nations squad but impressed in a recent training match against Clontarf and in linking up with the squad last week in Dublin. “We felt with him having more experience in that 13 jersey, he warranted a shot from what he’s done in training.
“Johnny O’Sullivan has been playing out of position. We acknowledge that, and he’s done a really good job. [He’s] still on the bench, and the beauty is he covers centre, but he also covers [the] back three as well.”
Hooker Lee Fitzpatrick, added to the Leinster academy earlier in the season, returns from injury. He’s a year young for the age grade but his work around the pitch is a standout quality. Garryowen’s Joe Finn starts at blindside flanker with Josh Neill shifting to openside as Browne wanted a little bit more size to counter the Italian threat.
Ireland played some excellent rugby in attack against France at times, and the players will be empowered again in Cork to play what they see in front of them.
[ Ireland under-20s make three changes for Six Nations clash against ItalyOpens in new window ]
Browne explained: “Kieran Hallett, our attack coach, he’ll talk about ambition a lot, letting the players play. I think we saw some nice examples of that last week. Having that ambition to play, having that licence to play, and the freedom for the players, is one of our big attack philosophies. I thought we showed that at times last week, while still being able to go at them physically.”
Italy, who lost 36-10 in Treviso to Scotland, make four changes to the starting side, with Edoardo Vitale, Francesco Braga, Valerio Pelli and Luca Trevisan coming into the team. Ireland beat Italy 29-10 in a pre-tournament warm-up match at Belfield and will be expected to repeat that feat at what promises to be a cold but dry Virgin Media Park.
IRELAND UNDER-20: Noah Byrne (Dublin University); Derry Moloney (Blackrock College), Rob Carney (Cashel), James O’Leary (UCC), Daniel Ryan (Galway Corinthians); Tom Wood (Garryowen), Christopher Barrett (UCC); Max Doyle (UCD), Lee Fitzpatrick (Blackrock College), Sami Bishti (UCD, capt); Dylan McNeice (UCD), Donnacha McGuire (UCD); Joe Finn (Garryowen), Josh Neill (Old Wesley), Diarmaid O’Connell (Galway Corinthians).
Replacements: Rian Handley (Old Wesley), Christian Foley (Young Munster), Blake McClean (Instonians), Ben Blaney (Terenure College), Bill Hayes (Garryowen), James O’Dwyer (Old Belvedere), Charlie O’Shea (UCC), Johnny O’Sullivan (Dublin University).
ITALY: Edoardo Vitale; Malik Faissal, Daniele Coluzzi, Riccardo Casarin (capt), Luca Rossi; Francesco Braga, Alessandro Teodosio; Christian Brasini, Valerio Pelli, Luca Trevisan; Simone Fardin, Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi; Anthony Italo Miranda, Carlo Antonio Bianchi, Davide Sette.
Replacements: Jacopo De Rossi, Giacomo Messori, Leonardo Tosi, Jaheim Noel Wilson, Marco Spreafichi, Nikolaj Varotto, Thomas del Sureto, Alessio Scaramazza.
