Ireland national under-20 rugby union team

Ireland U-20
Union	Irish Rugby Football Union
Emblem(s)	Shamrock
Ground(s)	Musgrave Park (Capacity: 8,008)
Coach(es)	Willie Faloon
Captain(s)	Evan O'Connell
Most caps	Dominic Ryan (20); Iain Henderson (20)
Top scorer	Ross Byrne (129)
Most tries	Andrew Conway (14)
Team kit	Change kit
First international
	Ireland 17–15 Wales ; (2 February 2007)
Largest win
	Scotland 7–82 Ireland ; (10 March 2023)
Largest defeat
	New Zealand 69–3 Ireland ; (8 June 2017)
World Cup
Appearances	13 (First in 2008)
Best result	2nd, 2016, 2023

Last updated August 20, 2024

The Ireland national under-20 rugby team was formed in 2006, having previously been known as the under-21 team.

History

Ireland have won the Grand Slam four times and the Six Nations Championship five times: 2007, 2010, 2019, 2022 and 2023. In the pandemic-truncated competition in 2020, Ireland won the Triple Crown. At the time the competition was halted, Ireland were undefeated and led the table. However, this was not considered a championship nor a grand slam.^[2]^[3]^[4] Ireland won two consecutive Grand Slams in the 2022 and 2023 Six Nations championships, but were denied a third consecutive Grand Slam and championship title following a draw away to England.^[5] Despite Ireland and England having both recorded four wins and a draw, England were crowned champions as they had earned one more try bonus point than Ireland.^[5]

Players

Current squad

Head coach Willie Faloon named his 30–man squad for the 2024 U20 Rugby Championship on 14 June.^[6]

Name	Date of Birth	Position	Club	Province
Alex Usanov	10 July 2005	Prop	Clontarf	Leinster
Danny Sheehan	7 April 2004	Hooker	Cork Constitution	Munster
Stephen Smyth	1 August 2004	Hooker	Old Wesley	Leinster
Patreece Bell	23 May 2004	Prop	Sale Sharks	IQ Rugby
Jacob Boyd	10 July 2004	Prop	Queen's University	Ulster
Andrew Sparrow	15 November 2004	Prop	UCD	Leinster
Billy Corrigan	25 June 2005	Lock	Old Wesley	Leinster
Evan O'Connell (c)	4 May 2004	Lock	UL Bohemians	Munster
Alan Spicer	4 May 2005	Lock	UCD	Leinster
Bryn Ward	17 July 2004	Back-row	Ballynahinch	Ulster
Sean Edogbo	8 May 2004	Back-row	UCC	Munster
Brian Gleeson	5 February 2004	Back-row	Garryowen	Munster
Luke Murphy	27 January 2005	Back-row	Shannon	Munster
James McKillop		Back-row	Queen's University	Ulster
Max Flynn		Flanker	Corinthians	Connacht
Emmet Calvey		Prop	Shannon	Munster
Mikey Yarr		Hooker	Lansdowne	Leinster
Oliver Coffey	13 September 2004	Scrum-half	Blackrock College	Leinster
Tadhg Brophy	18 September 2004	Scrum-half	Naas	Leinster
Jake O'Riordan	17 December 2004	Scrum-half	UL Bohemians	Munster
Jack Murphy	15 July 2004	Fly-half	Clontarf	Leinster
Sean Naughton	19 October 2004	Fly-half	Corinthians	Connacht
Hugo McLaughlin	26 May 2004	Wing	Lansdowne	Leinster
Finn Treacy	14 August 2004	Wing	Galwegians	Connacht
Hugh Gavin	10 January 2004	Centre	Galwegians	Connacht
Wilhelm de Klerk	16 August 2004	Centre	UCD	Leinster
Ben O'Connor	20 August 2004	Fullback	UCC	Munster
Ruben Moloney		Fullback	UCD	Leinster
Sam Berman		Centre	Terenure College	Leinster
Davy Colbert		Wing	Dublin University	Leinster

Award winners

The following Ireland U20s players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2008:^[7]

World Rugby Junior Player of the Year
Year	Nominees	Winners
2012	JJ Hanrahan	—
2014	Garry Ringrose	—
2016	Max Deegan	Max Deegan

Coaching and management

Position	Name
Head coach	Richie Murphy
Forwards coach	Jimmy Duffy
Skills and backs coach	Mark Sexton
Defence coach	Willie Faloon
Team manager	Hendrik Kruger
Athletic performance coach	Martin Kennedy
Performance analyst	John Buckley
Media and communications	Ryan Bailey

Overall record

Opposition	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	% Won	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	5	3	0	2	60%	101	73	+28
Australia	4	2	0	2	50%	83	98	–15
England	27	10	2	15	37.04%	609	747	–138
Fiji	3	3	0	0	100%	131	30	+101
France	24	11	0	13	45.83%	484	573	–89
Georgia	4	3	0	1	75%	101	65	+36
Japan	1	1	0	0	100%	39	33	+6
Italy	23	21	1	1	91.3%	702	355	+347
New Zealand	9	1	0	8	11.11%	139	354	–215
Samoa	3	2	0	1	66.67%	92	45	+47
Scotland	26	21	0	5	80.77%	831	505	+326
South Africa	6	2	0	4	33.33%	136	193	–57
Tonga	1	1	0	0	100%	45	27	+18
Uruguay	1	1	0	0	100%	45	0	+45
Wales	24	13	1	10	54.17%	608	474	+134
Total	161	95	4	62	59.01%	4,146	3,572	+574

Correct as of 22 July 2024^[8]

Six Nations Under 20s Championship

Year	Pos	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TD	LBP	TBP	Triple Crown	Grand Slam
2008	4th	5	2	0	3	56	90	–34	3	13	–10	N/A	N/A	No	No
2009	2nd	5	4	0	1	86	88	–2	5	9	–4	N/A	N/A	No	No
2010	1st	5	4	0	1	147	62	85	17	5	12	N/A	N/A	Yes	No
2011	4th	5	2	1	2	147	99	48	11	14	–3	N/A	N/A	No	No
2012	3rd	5	4	0	1	86	46	40	7	4	3	N/A	N/A	No	No
2013	3rd	5	2	1	2	98	83	15	13	9	4	N/A	N/A	No	No
2014	4th	5	2	0	3	74	79	–5	7	8	–1	N/A	N/A	No	No
2015	5th	5	2	0	3	120	90	30	13	10	3	N/A	N/A	No	No
2016	3rd	5	3	0	2	108	120	–18	10	12	–2	N/A	N/A	No	No
2017	4th	5	3	0	2	111	122	–11	12	13	–1	1	0	No	No
2018	3rd	5	2	0	3	145	182	–37	21	26	–5	1	3	No	No
2019	1st	5	5	0	0	150	92	58	18	12	6	0	3	Yes	Yes
2020	Cancelled	3	3	0	0	113	69	44	17	10	7	0	3	Yes	Cancelled
2021	3rd	5	3	0	2	151	100	51	20	14	6	1	3	No	No
2022	1st	5	5	0	0	210	65	145	29	9	20	0	4	Yes	Yes
2023	1st	5	5	0	0	239	116	123	32	17	15	0	4	Yes	Yes
2024	2nd	5	4	1	0	171	93	78	23	12	11	0	4	No	No

World Rugby U20 Championship

Year	Place	Pool	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TD	LBP	TBP
2008	9th	A	5	3	0	2	112	127	–15	11	13	–2	0	1
2009	8th	A	5	2	0	3	81	54	27	9	3	6	0	1
2010	9th	B	5	2	0	3	154	118	36	18	9	9	2	0
2011	8th	C	5	1	0	4	120	183	–63	11	24	–13	0	0
2012	5th	B	5	4	0	1	124	70	54	13	7	6	1	1
2013	8th	B	5	2	0	3	121	86	35	14	9	5	1	1
2014	4th	B	5	2	0	3	124	127	–3	14	16	–2	1	2
2015	7th	C	5	3	0	2	74	92	–18	6	9	–3	0	0
2016	2nd	A	5	4	0	1	173	153	20	17	16	1	0	1
2017	9th	B	5	2	0	3	128	167	–39	16	25	–9	2	0
2018	11th	C	5	1	0	4	129	158	–29	16	23	–7	2	0
2019	8th	B	5	2	0	3	137	155	–18	18	20	–2	0	2
2020–2022	Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023	2nd	B	5	3	1	1	156	133	23	23	19	4	0	3
2024	4th*	B	4*	2	0	2	121	100	21	17	12	8	0	1
*The 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship Pool B match between Ireland and Australia was cancelled due to weather conditions, rendering the pitch unplayable and unsafe. Both teams were awarded two points.^[9]^[10]

Honours

Six Nations Under 20s Championship :
- Winner (5): 2007, 2010, 2019, 2022, 2023
Grand Slam :
- Winner (4): 2007, 2019, 2022, 2023
Triple Crown :
- Winner (6): 2007, 2010, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
World Rugby Under 20 Championship :
- Runner Up (2): 2016, 2023

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References

↑ "U20 Six Nations: Ireland thrash Scotland to move one step closer to Grand Slam". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
↑ "Ireland Under-20s Complete Grand Slam Mission With Bonus Point Flourish". Irish Rugby. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
↑ "Nine-try Ireland U20s crush Scotland to claim Grand Slam success". The42 . 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
↑ "Six-try Ireland U20s make history with back-to-back Grand Slam titles". The42 . 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
1 2 "Six Nations U20s Championship: Ireland 36 Scotland 0". Irish Times. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
↑ "Murphy Announces Ireland Under-20 Squad For 2024 U-20 Six Nations". Irish Rugby . 16 January 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
↑ "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
↑ "Fixtures & Results". Irish Rugby. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
↑ "Ireland v Australia in World U20 Championship cancelled". BBC Sport . BBC. 9 July 2024.
↑ Williamson, Nathan (9 July 2024). "Australia U20s coach Grey blasts call to cancel Ireland game, ending World Championship semi-final hopes". rugby.com.au. Rugby Australia.

External links

Ireland U-20 Squad from official IRFU site

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[1] "U20 Six Nations: Ireland thrash Scotland to move one step closer to Grand Slam". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 March 2023.

[2] "Ireland Under-20s Complete Grand Slam Mission With Bonus Point Flourish". Irish Rugby. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.

[3] "Nine-try Ireland U20s crush Scotland to claim Grand Slam success". The42 . 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.

[4] "Six-try Ireland U20s make history with back-to-back Grand Slam titles". The42 . 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.

[2024_6N-5] 1 2 "Six Nations U20s Championship: Ireland 36 Scotland 0". Irish Times. Retrieved 16 March 2024.

[6] "Murphy Announces Ireland Under-20 Squad For 2024 U-20 Six Nations". Irish Rugby . 16 January 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.

[World_Rugby_Award_winners-7] "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.

[Results-8] "Fixtures & Results". Irish Rugby. Retrieved 22 July 2024.

[9] "Ireland v Australia in World U20 Championship cancelled". BBC Sport . BBC. 9 July 2024.

[rugbyau-10] Williamson, Nathan (9 July 2024). "Australia U20s coach Grey blasts call to cancel Ireland game, ending World Championship semi-final hopes". rugby.com.au. Rugby Australia.

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