Irish Under-20 Six Nations Championship squad, helmed by Richie Murphy, will witness four new selections alongside a positional switch for the forthcoming match against England at Bath’s Recreation Ground (7.15pm, streaming live on RTE 2 and BBC iPlayer). The match takes place on Friday night and is in the aftermath of their victory over Wales.
In the upcoming match, the entire front row composition has been revamped. Alex Usanov, Danny Sheahan and Jacob Boyd, previously on the reserves during the Wales match, have now been bumped up to the starters. This means that Henry Walker, the hooker, alongside props Ben Howard and Patreece Bell, will be amongst the replacements.
With the return of Alan Spicer, who was sidelined in the previous match, he is all set to join forces with captain Evan O’Connell in the second row. Meanwhile, Joe Hopes is back to his original position as the blindside flanker, a role he fulfilled in the campaign’s initial two matches. Sean Edogbo, a starter in the last match, moves to the sidelines as Tom Brigg disappears from the 23-man squad.
Ireland initially hoped for a recovery of their ace number eight Brian Gleeson from an ankle ailment he developed in their triumphant match against France in Aix-en-Provence. With no signs of improvement, this plan has unfortunately not come to fruition. However, the backbone of the team, the backline, remains unscathed and is set to continue their form.
Meanwhile, England, the current table leaders who also secured a hat trick of victories and lead the tournament by one point, have reintroduced Ben Waghorn, Jacob Oliver, Olamide Sodeke and Junior Kpoku for their match against Scotland in Edinburgh.
The revised line-up of the England team is provided below.
B Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons), T Cousins (Northampton Saints), B Waghorn (Harlequins), S Kerr (Harlequins), A Willis (Sale Sharks), J Bellamy (Harlequins), A McParland (Northampton Saints), A Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), J Oliver (Newcastle Falcons), B Sela (Bath), O Sodeke (Saracens), J Kpoku (Racing 92), F Carnduff (Leicester Tigers, captain), H Pollock (Northampton Saints), N Michelow (Saracens).
Reserves: J Isaacs (Saracens), S Kirk (Bath), James Halliwell (Bristol), Z Carr (Harlequins), K James (Exeter Chiefs), B Douglas (Newcastle Falcons), G Makepeace-Cubitt (Rams), O Spencer (Newcastle Falcons).
An Irish team, headed by captain E O’Connell from UL Bohemian, lists B O’Connor from UCC and F Treacy from Galwegians as part of the squad. Other members include W de Klerk from UCD, H Gavin also from Galwegians, and H McLaughlin from Lansdowne. The team also brings in J Murphy from Clontarf and O Coffey from Blackrock College. A Usanov from Clontarf, D Sheahan from Cork Constitution, and J Boyd from QUB form a part of the squad. Other participants include A Spicer from UCD, J Hopes from QUB, B Ward from Ballynahinch, and L Murphy from Shannon.
The replacement individuals include H Walker from QUB, B Howard from Terenure College, and P Bell from Sale Sharks. Not to forget B Corrigan from Old Wesley, S Edogbo from UCC, T Brophy from Naas, S Naughton from Galway Corinthians, and D Colbert from Dublin University.