Ireland squad named for World Rugby U20 Championship

Head coach Neil Doak has named a 30-player squad for the World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy.
Connacht's Éanna McCarthy will captain the side in the tournament, which runs from 29 June to 19 July.
Ireland have been drawn alongside New Zealand, Georgia and the hosts in Pool C in the 12-team tournament.
Doak, whose side endured an abject Six Nations Under 20s Championship campaign that featured a solitary win in five outings, said: "It's been a challenging season, but this group has shown resilience and real character.
"We know the competition at the World Championships will be fierce, but these experiences have made us stronger.
"We're looking forward to the opportunity to test ourselves on the world stage."
Meanwhile, Ireland U20s women head coach Niamh Briggs has named a 35-person squad for next month's Six Nations Women's Summer Series in Wales.
Jane Neill captains the side again, with 11 players who featured in the squad for the inaugural competition included.
Ireland U20 squad for World Rugby U20 Championship
Forwards: Billy Bohan, Billy Corrigan, Michael Foy, Conor Kennelly, Tom McAllister, Éanna McCarthy, Luke McLaughlin, Oisin Minogue, Paddy Moore, Alex Mullan, Luke Murphy, Bobby Power, Mahon Ronan, Alex Usanov, Henry Walker, David Walsh, Mikey Yarr.
Backs: Connor Fahy, Paidi Farrell, Dan Green, Clark Logan, Ciaran Mangan, Derry Moloney, Charlie Molony, Chris O'Connor, Gene O'Leary Kareem, Eoghan Smyth, Sam Wisniewski, Tom Wood, Will Wootton.
Forwards: Jemima Adams Verling, Alma Atagamen, Sophie Barrett, Grainne Burke, Ella Burns, Beth Buttimer, Maebh Clenaghan, Carla Cooney, Aoife Corcoran, Saoirse Crowe, Poppy Garvey, Beibhinn Gleeson, Sally Kelly, Merisa Kiripati, Lily Morris, Jane Neill, Aoibhe O Flynn, Rosie Searle.
Backs: Emma Brogan, Hannah Clarke, Lyndsay Clarke, Katie Corrigan, Clara Dunne, Caitriona Finn, Emily Foley, Jade Gaffney, Niamh Gallagher, May Goulding, Lucia Linn, Caoimhe McCormack, Grainne Moran, Robyn O'Connor, Tara O'Neill, Ellie O Sullivan Sexton, Hannah Scanlon.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Irish Daily Mirror

a day ago

• Irish Daily Mirror

Roscommon-Tyrone TV info, throw-in time, date and more for All-Ireland MFC semi

The semi-finals of the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship beckon this weekend, with Roscommon meeting Tyrone. Connacht champions Roscommon don't have as far to travel as Tyrone, an advantage which may prove crucial. The Rossies are into their first All-Ireland semi-final in five years after winning in extra-time against Louth. Tyrone will look to follow their fellow underage sides in years gone by, with multiple All-Ireland championships at minor and U20 level. Here's what you need to know: The match takes place at Breffni Park in Cavan, on Sunday June 22. The action is scheduled to get under way at 1:30pm. The match is being shown live on TG4 and you can follow updates with our live blog.

Irish Times

a day ago

• Irish Times

Five things we learned from the Lions' loss to Argentina

Finlay Bealham and Ellis Genge are mighty good together in the scrum Finlay Bealham may have been a late call-up to the Lions team following Zander Fagerson's unfortunate injury but the Connacht and Ireland tighthead prop - in tandem with Ellis Genge, the Lions' best player on the night, and the rest of the pack - gave the Argentina scrum a torrid time for most of the game before a raft of changes rendered that aspect of the game messier, especially as referee James Doleman became less inclined to intervene, preferring to let the game flow. The scrum provided a perfect launch pad for the Bundee Aki try. What will rankle a little is that the Lions didn't maximise their dominance in terms of putting points on the scoreboard, letting Argentina off the hook after going to the corner several times. On balance though, and when considering that the Lions will bring in additional size and ballast, it was a standout success on the night. The lineout needs to be addressed A penalty try was awarded after Argentina illegally stopped a lineout maul but, generally, there were too many turnovers on the Lions' throw. What will irk Lions forward coach John Dalziel most is that a couple of them seemed to be the result of system malfunctions rather than throwing errors. No one expects perfection but the pride will be wounded. Credit must go to Argentina for the manner in which they got jumpers in the air to challenge and also the way they defended the maul, particularly one near their own line late on when the Lions called in the auxiliaries from the backline. The Lions' capacity to add size in the secondrow and backrow could have a positive knock-on effect for the lineout. READ MORE Argentina's Juan Martín González and Ignacio Mendy compete in the air with Fin Smith during the Lions' defeat in Dublin on Friday. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Argentina exposed Lions' weakness in the air Australia head coach Joe Schmidt will have taken note of Argentina's clever aerial work in isolating Fin Smith and Marcus Smith in one-on-one duels. Argentinian outhalf and man of the match Tomás Albornoz managed to pick out Smith when the Lions outhalf was defending on the wing initially. Andy Farrell then switched Smith from fullback to the wing, but he fared no better in that capacity. When the Lions get to the Test series in Australia, they are likely to have a different shape, with Ireland's James Lowe and Hugo Keenan especially strong contenders in the air. Mack Hansen added energy and impetus when he arrived off the bench. It was a little surprising that Tommy Freeman, who made some fine catches, didn't slip into the backfield to add a more robust aerial presence. Lions will fail if they don't learn to pass better There was plenty to admire in the Lions' attacking shape and the tempo of their play in the opening 20-minutes, which would have yielded a couple of tries but for a couple of knocks-ons. Despite that early promise, an over-reliance on throwing offloads would prove very debilitating, with several attacks undermined by poor decisions or passes. The ball hit the ground far too often. Making those passes stick is something that will come with familiarity. Or at least it should. Statistically, the Lions racked up the better numbers across various categories. They had 15 22-metres entries to the Pumas six, made 401 post-contact metres to their opponents 107, conceded five penalties to their opponents 12, had superior ruck speed, 29 per cent to their opponents 19 per cent in the premium 0-3 second category, had 53 per cent possession and 61 per cent territory and had superior gain-line success. Lions were too cumbersome on turnovers The video review will be a disappointing watch for the Lions, because it will show how they conceded tries from turnovers. Argentina were outstanding in exploiting those mistakes, especially in the manner in which they kept the ball alive, the timing of the passes and the sharp interplay and support to punish the Lions from long range. But it was just a tad easy at times as the Lions didn't scramble effectively to contain the initial breach. The Pumas were much more adept in that capacity, particularly when asked to hang on to their lead in a nervy end game. They shut down the Lions through the middle, encouraged them to go wide and then forced them back inside into cluttered culs-de-sac. Argentina's resilience proved decisive. Time will iron out many of the issues, but it won't assuage the short-term disappointment and the feeling that the Lions let slip a chance to win.

Irish Times

2 days ago

• Irish Times

Shane Walsh on coming back from injury: ‘It can knock you, you can go into your shell a bit. I definitely felt that'

At some point in Galway's frantic endgame against Armagh last Saturday, Shane Walsh shouted over at the sideline, asking what the score was up the road in Newry. There, the result of the Dublin-Derry game might help salvage Galway's summer. 'Never mind,' Walsh was promptly told, 'just win the game'. It was good advice. Despite trailing Armagh by eight points at the break, Galway's rousing second-half performance, inspired by Walsh's best championship display this summer, saw them win by a point – enough to set up an away preliminary quarter-final. When they drew Down on Monday morning, that refocused Galway minds again. It's their first championship meeting since 1971, which Galway won. But Down were the form team in the round-robin stages, top scorers of all 16 teams with their 4-78. Galway had the highest goal tally of eight, including two against Armagh. READ MORE 'It's game by game at this stage,' Walsh says in advance of Sunday's showdown in Newry. 'Obviously we just want to bring our best every day we go out. Have we brought our best so far? I don't believe so. 'But it's been hard, I suppose. We've had a bit of a broken spell with players missing, and that obviously affects the rhythm of the group too. I think we are getting there.' Walsh is talking about himself in terms of broken spells. He missed most of the Connacht championship with injury, and appeared well off his best against Dublin and Derry . Regaining full confidence against Armagh, where he finished with 0-9, including the match-winning free just after the hooter, was in part about his team-mates expressing their belief in him. 'I think that mattered a lot, and obviously having Pádraic [Joyce] there as well. Definitely as a forward, especially when you come back from an injury in the middle of the year. The lads are moving at a certain level and there's a certain synchronisation that they have out on the pitch,' Walsh says. [ Can Galway squeeze more from Shane Walsh and Damien Comer? Now is the time to find out Opens in new window ] 'You're trying to get to that pitch then as well. It's tough going and you're probably taking shots that you normally would score. But they're not coming off for you, maybe because you haven't had that repetition or you haven't had that time that the rest of them have. 'Then it can knock you, you can go into your shell a bit. I definitely felt that probably in the Dublin game, the Derry game a bit. But at the same time, Pádraic kind of passed on a couple of things to me. It stood to me going into the weekend, trained well for the two weeks, and it kind of followed into last Saturday.' Shane Walsh missed most of the Connacht championship with injury. Photograph: Sports File Under manager Conor Laverty, Down's confidence has been soaring. Despite losing to Donegal in the Ulster semi-final, they certainly won't fear Galway. 'We all know about going up to Newry, you never get it easy up there,' says Walsh. 'Conor Laverty always has his team well drilled. I know him, he's a lovely fellah off the field, but when it comes to his football, he's very serious about winning as well, and he'll do whatever it takes. 'Like Michael Murphy's a nice fellah, gentle off the field, and then when he goes on the field, he's just a possessed animal, really. It's great to be able to have that mindset, that you're able to switch between two. It can be hard at times to take yourself out of it and put yourself into it, but they seem to do it pretty well. 'It's another great challenge, if you get through it to build your confidence, build the belief in the team and build a bit of momentum.' Walsh required all his old confidence when standing over the free-kick, just outside the 40-metre line, to win the match last Saturday. He looks back on that process in three different steps. [ Conor McManus: Here's my ranking of the top 12 counties going into the knockouts Opens in new window ] 'Firstly, when you're walking over, you're just saying 'calm, this is my job now'. The rest of them have done their work to win the free. Then there's a few words coming your way from opposition and then the heart rate starts to go up a bit. 'Then you're coming back in saying, 'you've dreamt of this as a young lad'. This is what you grew up dreaming about, saying you want to be in these situations and just commit to the kick, be yourself. That's all I could do, thankfully it went over.' While Joyce has sometimes been critical of his team's performance, admitting he'll have a hard time picking his best 15 players for Sunday, Walsh believes it's all part of his plan to get the best out of them. 'We'd nearly be laughing and joking about some things. He could be saying things about us to the media. And sure, we know where he's coming from. It's not as if we'd be saying that's a personal attack or anything like that. 'You build confidence through yourself, but you also build it through your team-mates, your manager and the people around you as well. If people are knocking you, it obviously doesn't encourage you to do the things you're doing.'