Six Nations

Ireland under-20s look to get back on track as they face ‘physical’ Scottish side

Ulster hooker Henry Walker feeling less ‘spooked’ on his second Six Nations campaign

Ireland's Henry Walker is tackled by Kepu Tuipulotu of England in their Under-20 Six Nations round 1 match in Cork on January 30th. Photograph: Andrew Conan/Inpho
Ireland's Henry Walker is tackled by Kepu Tuipulotu of England in their Under-20 Six Nations round 1 match in Cork on January 30th. Photograph: Andrew Conan/Inpho
Daire Walsh
Sat Feb 08 2025 - 06:00
Under-20 Six Nations: Scotland v Ireland, Hive Stadium, Edinburgh, Saturday, 7.45 – Live RTÉ 2

Ireland encountered a physical challenge in their opening game of the tournament, and Henry Walker is anticipating something similar when they face Scotland in the second round of the Under-20 Six Nations at the Hive Stadium in Edinburgh on Saturday (kick-off 7.45pm, live on RTÉ2).

Following a 19-3 defeat to defending champions England at Musgrave Park last Thursday week, Neil Doak’s side will be looking to get their campaign back on track in the Scottish capital this weekend.

Coming in to their clash with the English on an unbeaten run of 15 games in the tournament, dating back to the first round of the 2022 Six Nations, Ireland ultimately came up short after conceding four penalties and a penalty try over the course of the action.

Scotland also suffered defeat in their opening game of this year’s tournament, with Italy getting the better of them on a final score of 22-10. Yet even though you have to go all the way back to 2015 for the last time they tasted victory over Ireland in the tournament, Ulster hooker Walker is expecting the Scots to pose a significant threat.

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“We always know they’re going to be physical. I played them last year at the end of the Six Nations and they were a very physical side. Obviously this year they’ve got another crowd of big lads,” Walker remarked on Thursday. “They’ve got the likes of Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, Reuben Logan. They’re big lads and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

While Alex Usanov is marked absent because of an injury he sustained in the opening stages of the England game – which is also set to rule the Leinster prop out for the remainder of the tournament – the rest of the Irish pack from that opener is retained for their first away trip of 2025.

There are also a couple of changes in the Ireland back line, with Gene O’Leary Kareem and Daniel Green indirectly replacing Eoghan Smyth and Derry Moloney, the latter missing out on selection owing to a broken finger.

[ Ireland under-20s make three changes to starting team for Scotland clash ]

As he alluded to above, Walker is currently in the middle of his second Six Nations campaign, having played in four of the five games in last year’s tournament. Whereas he admitted to feeling somewhat “spooked” for his debut appearance against France a little over 12 months ago, the Queen’s University player is now feeling much more at ease in this age grade.

“There’s a few other lads in the squad that were involved [in 2024] and it just helped me settle this year. Calmed the nerves a little bit, because it can spook you. Obviously my first game against France I was a little bit spooked, but having those players that played before around you really does settle the nerves,” Walker added.

“I feel like I want to be that player this year to help those lads through it, those tough times. You just have to get the head down and keep moving forward.”

SCOTLAND: J Brown; G Rogers, J Ventisei, K Yule, F Watson; M Urwin, N Cowan; O McKenna, J Roberts, O Blyth-Lafferty; C Moss, D Halkon; C Lindsay, B Allen, R Logan.

Replacements: S Stephen, J Shearer, J Stewart, B Godsell, O Duncan, H Patterson, R Wolfenden, N Moncrieff.

IRELAND: D Green; C Molony, G O’Leary Kareem, C Fahy, C Mangan; S Wisniewski, C Logan; B Bohan, H Walker, A Mullan; M Ronan, B Corrigan; M Foy, B Power, E McCarthy.

Replacements: C Magee, P Moore, T McAllister, D Walsh, O Minogue, W Wotton, D Hicks, E Smyth.

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