Ireland Under-20s look for strong finish to mixed campaign

There is a quiet resolution within the Ireland squad ahead of Friday night's final Under-20 Six Nations Championship match against Scotland at Netherdale.

Consecutive defeats to England and Wales have punctured the momentum of victories against Italy and France, leaving a legacy of frustration and disappointment. While Ireland created and didn’t take chances against the English the collective performance in their last outing in north Wales was appreciably off colour.

Ireland number eight, Lorcan Dow, admitted: “I think it was disappointing to lose in the fashion that we did, compounding errors with more errors. We have had a hard, long look at it (Welsh game), analysed it; we have had training sessions to get through it, and park it.

“We are looking forward to Scotland to right those wrongs, even more so with one eye on the World Cup to get some momentum moving into there. Everyone in the squad is very aware that it is rare to wear an Irish jersey, (it’s) a very precious thing and you have to understand and respect that.

“That is what this week is about, learning those hard lessons; it’s about wearing the Irish jersey and playing to the best of your ability. If you don’t there will be someone behind you willing to do it. We’re ready to move on and restore some pride into that jersey.”

Ireland coach Nigel Carolan has made three changes in personnel and two positional switches for the Scottish match. David O’Connor and Alex Thompson are restored to the secondrow while Josh Murphy reverts to his more familiar position of blindside flanker and Nick Timoney moves to openside. The impressive teenager Conan O’Donnell gets the chance to start at tighthead prop.

The backline remains intact while UCD’s Jack Dwan has been named in the match 23 for the first time in the championship. Dow is adamant that Ireland must concentrate on the fundamental components of the game if they are to finish the Six Nations on a high against a decent Scotland team.

“I think we need to simplify, go back to basics, stuff like breakdown and set piece; get those right first. Once those start to fire we will get a better platform for our backs to play. As everyone in the media has been talking about, our backs are super players and can finish tries. We saw that against France and Italy.”

IRELAND UNDER-20: B Dardis (UCD); C Gaffney (Galwegians), G Ringrose (UCD), S Arnold (Ballynahinch), S Fitzgerald (Shannon); R Byrne (UCD), N McCarthy (UCD, capt); J Loughman (UCD), Z McCall (QUB), C O'Donnell (Sligo/NUIG); D O'Connor (St Mary's College), A Thompson (QUB); J Murphy (UCD), N Timoney (St Mary's College), L Dow (QUB).

Replacements: A McBurney (Ballymena), M Lagan (Ballymena), O Heffernan (Terenure College), J Dwan (UCD), S McVeigh (Buccaneers), C Young (QUB), J Carbery (UCD), J Stockdale (QUB).