Clontarf winger Aitzol King has been rewarded for his two-try cameo off the bench against England last week with a starting spot on Richie Murphy’s Ireland Under-20 side as they look to seal the Grand Slam at a sold-out Musgrave Park on Sunday (5pm, live on Virgin Media Two).
King is the only change to the side that won 42-27 in Barnet to set up the crack at the Grand Slam and joins Patrick Campbell and Fionn Gibbons in Ireland's back three, with the Ulster duo of Jude Postlethwaite and Ben Carson retained in midfield. In the halfbacks, Charlie Tector and Matthew Devine are named to start.
Murphy has opted for an unchanged pack once again and commenting ahead of the game, he said: “We are really excited about the prospect of finishing the championship in front of a sold-out home crowd in Cork. The group have grown remarkably over the last couple of months and we go into Sunday’s game knowing what’s at stake for us.
"This week has been all about sticking to our processes, putting the head down and preparing as well as we can for what will hopefully be our best performance of the Six Nations.
“The players have remained really focused and we know if we can nail our work, we will give ourselves the best possible opportunity of overcoming the final hurdle.”
IRELAND U20 (v Scotland U20, Musgrave Park, Sunday, 5.0 – Live on Virgin Media Two and BBC iPlayer): Patrick Campbell (Young Munster); Aitzol King (Clontarf), Jude Postlethwaite (Banbridge ), Ben Carson (Banbridge), Fionn Gibbons (UCD); Charlie Tector (Lansdowne), Matthew Devine (Corinthians ); Jack Boyle (UCD), James McCormick (Ballymena), Rory McGuire (UCD); Conor O'Tighearnaigh (UCD), Mark Morrissey (UCD); Lorcan McLoughlin (Queen's), Reuben Crothers (Ballynahinch) (capt), James Culhane (UCD).
Replacements: Josh Hanlon (Ballynahinch), Oisín Michel (Lansdowne), Scott Wilson (Queen's), Adam McNamee (Malone), Diarmuid Mangan (UCD), Ethan Coughlan (Shannon), Tony Butler (Garryowen), Chay Mullins (Bristol).
SCOTLAND: Robin McClintock (Montpellier); Ross McKnight (Stirling County/Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Munn (Boroughmuir Bears/Glasgow Warriors), Andy Stirrat (GHA), Ben Evans (Heriot's Rugby/Edinburgh); Christian Townsend (Ayrshire Bulls/Glasgow Warriors), Murray Redpath (Newcastle University); Michael Jones (Heriot's Rugby/Edinburgh Rugby), Patrick Harrison (Edinburgh Rugby), Gregor Scougall (Currie Chieftains); Josh Taylor (Ealing Trailfinders), Max Williamson (Stirling County/Glasgow Warriors); Matthew Deehan (Newcastle Falcons), Tim Brown (Glasgow Hawks), Rhys Tait (Boroughmuir Bears/Glasgow Warriors) (capt).
Replacements: Duncan Hood (Bath University), Ali Rogers (Glasgow Hawks), Corey Bowker (Fylde ), Innes Hill (Ealing Trailfinders), Robert Gordon (Exeter University), Jonty Cope (Durham University), Thomas Glendinning (Glasgow Hawks), Keiran Clark (Southern Knights).
