The Ireland U20 side has been confirmed to play Georgia in the final Pool A game of the World Rugby U20 Championships tomorrow evening at the Manchester City Academy Stadium.
Head Coach Nigel Carolan has made 13 changes to the side that defeated New Zealand 33-24 on Saturday.
In the forwards, James Bollard, Vincent O’Brien and Vakh Abdaladze start in the front row. New cap Evan Mintern of Cork Con is joined in the second-row by Sean O’Connor. In the back-row, Greg Jones is the only forward who started in the game against New Zealand and he will pack down with new cap Conall Boomer of Belfast Harlequins and Number 8 Kelvin Brown.
There is also a new-look backline, with Niall Saunders starting at scrum-half. He will be partnered by Johnny McPhillips at out-half. Paul Kiernan and Jimmy O’Brien make up the centre partnership, while winger Hugo Keenan remains from the New Zealand game and is joined in the back-three by Terry Kennedy and Brett Connon.
The side will be captained by UCC’s Paul Kiernan.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s match, Carolan said;
“We’re in a good position with two wins from two so far in this competition but we now have a big test against what is a very physical Georgian side. They pushed Wales all the way at the weekend so they will be looking to build on that performance and will be confident coming into this match.
The nature of the tournament means that games come thick and fast so it’s important that we use our whole squad. There are a number of players who will be starting their first U20 World Championship match so we’re looking forward to seeing them in action”.
The match will be broadcast live on TG4 and Sky Sports 4 and will be refereed by Craig Evans of the WRU.
Ireland U20 v Georgia U20.
Manchester City Academy Stadium, Wednesday 15th June 2016, 5.30pm.
15. Brett Connon (Newcastle Falcons)
14. Terry Kennedy (St.Mary’s / Leinster)
13. Jimmy O’Brien (UCD / Leinster)
12. Paul Kiernan (UCC / Munster) Captain
11. Hugo Keenan (UCD / Leinster)
10. Johnny McPhillips (Queen’s University / Ulster)
9. Niall Saunders (Harlequins)
1. James Bollard (Dublin University / Leinster)
2. Vincent O’Brien (Cork Con / Munster)
3. Vakh Abdaladze (Clontarf / Leinster)
4. Evan Mintern (Cork Con / Munster)*
5. Sean O’Connor (Cashel / Munster)
6. Greg Jones (UCD / Leinster)
7. Conall Boomer (Belfast Harlequins / Ulster)*
8. Kelvin Brown (Shannon / Munster)
Replacements
16. Adam McBurney (Ballymena / Ulster)
17. Andrew Porter (UCD / Leinster)
18. Adam Coyle (Naas / Leinster)
19. James Ryan (Lansdowne / Leinster)
20. Max Deegan (Lansdowne / Leinster)
21. Stephen Kerins (Sligo / Connacht)
22. Shane Daly (Cork Con / Munster)
23. Jacob Stockdale (Belfast Harlequins / Ulster)
*Denotes Uncapped at this level
Ireland U20 World Rugby U20 Championship Results / Fixtures
Pool A
Wales U20 25-26 Ireland U20
Manchester City Academy Stadium
Tuesday 7th June, 2016
New Zealand U20 24 – 33 Ireland U20
Manchester City Academy Stadium
Saturday 11th June, 2016
Ireland U20 v Georgia U20
Manchester City Academy Stadium
Wednesday 15th June, 2016
KO: 17:30
Semi-Finals
Manchester City Academy Stadium OR AJ Bell Stadium, Salford
Monday 20th June 2016
Play-Offs
Manchester City Academy Stadium OR AJ Bell Stadium, Salford
Saturday 25th June 2016
