RUGBY/JUNIOR WORLD CUP:THE COURSE for the Irish Under-20 side at this year's Junior World Championship will be decided tonight when they take on South Africa in Stadio di Monigo in Treviso (7.30pm).
The opening night loss to England, without even the consolation of a bonus point, has left it almost impossible for Mike Ruddock’s men to make it to the semi-finals, but there is still plenty at stake.
At the end of the three pool games – Ireland play Scotland next Saturday – the competition breaks into three knockout phases with the top four contesting the semi-finals, the next quartet battling for positions five to eight, and the remaining four countries trying to avoid the wooden spoon.
Last year Ireland ended up in the bottom tier, and, while they won both games in that section to finish ninth, it meant a lower seeding for this year’s tournament and hence the presence of two of the favourites in their pool.
“It would be great to break that cycle,” said coach Mike Ruddock. “It’s tough with a four-day turnaround but we have got to pick ourselves up from the England disappointment and play well against South Africa.
“But I think we showed the character of this team against England, we showed the positivity of this team and we showed some real good running rugby, and we need to just build on that,” he added.
It is testimony to the level of fitness and physique which this group of young players has that none of them was doubtful through injury after the bruising encounter with England. It was a game played a very high tempo in scorching heat, with the Irish not having had the time to adjust to the temperature as it was wet and cool since they arrived in Italy earlier last week.
In contrast, England prepared with a few weekends in Portugal over the last few months.
But it is no surprise that Ruddock, despite having an almost full hand to play with – replacement lock Shane Buckley is out with a one-match ban after being cited – has made five changes given the demand of three matches in eight days.
The team announced is notable that four players from Connacht will start – five if scrumhalf Kieran Marmion, soon to be heading into the western academy, is included – with six from Leinster, three from Ulster and one from Munster.
Tiernan O’Halloran of Galwegians comes in at fullback with Craig Gilroy switching to left-wing in place of Andrew Boyle.
JJ Hanrahan of UL Bohemians, who impressed after being introduced against England, starts in place of Luke Marshall at inside centre, while James McKinney of Queen’s takes over from Paddy Jackson at outhalf after also doing well when he was brought on in Friday’s game.
Up front, Danny Qualter of Buccaneers gets the nod over Iain Henderson in the secondrow, while Aaron Conneely of Galway Corinthians starts in place of Dominic Gallagher.
South Africa have made nine changes to the side which opened their campaign with a 33-0 win over Scotland, and skipper Arno Botha believes they are capable of winning the tournament outright.
“We’re taking each game as it comes. We don’t know much about Ireland but we want to improve each day.”
IRELAND: T O’Halloran (Galwegians); A Conway (Blackrock), B Macken (Blackrock), JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians), C Gilroy (Dungannon); J McKinney (Queen’s University), K Marmion (University of Wales Institute Cardiff); J Tracy (UCD), N Annett (Belfast Harlequins), T Furlong (Clontarf); M Kearney (Clontarf), D Qualter (Buccaneers); J Murphy (Lansdowne), A Conneely (Corinthians), E McKeon (Galwegians). Replacements: D Doyle (UCD), C Carey (Ballymena), I Henderson (Queen’s University), D Gallagher (Dublin University), P Du Toit (UCD), P Jackson (Dungannon), L Marshall (Ballymena).
SOUTH AFRICA: U Beyers; C Skosan, B Moolman, F Venter, W Mjekevu; J Goosen, L Jacobs; S Kotze, M van Vuuren, JR Jenkinson; R Venter, E Etzebeth; N Carr, C du Preez, A Botha. Replacements: B Mbonambi, N Schonert, J Cook, S Kolisi, P Rademan, J Welthagen, P Jordaan.
