6N U20: Ireland to Win Again?
The Six Nations has not just been about the senior team of each of the six countries. It has involved age-group teams as well, and since 2008 it has been an official competition run alongside the senior teams.
England have dominated from the start. There have been 12 competitions of which England have won six, France three, Ireland two and Wales one.
Ireland’s second win was in 2019, which makes them the reigning champions. And they did not just win. They had a Grand Slam and were nine log points ahead of the second team, which was France.
Ireland have five players back from that champions side – captain David McCann, Charlie Ward, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny and Thomas Ahern, and they have started with a bang, scoring six tries in their 38-26 victory over the brave Scots.
The other winners in Round 1 of 2020 were England and Italy, both winning away matches.
Wales scored first against Italy and led 7-0, but then the strong Italian pack took over. Each side scored a try but Italy added four penalty goals by flyhalf Paolo Garbisi. The man of the match award went to Italy’s scrumhalf Stephen Varney, who, ironically, was born in Wales.
England were impressive up in Grenoble, scoring four tries to two.
Round 1 Results
Ireland vs Scotland, 38-26 in Cork
Italy vs Wales, 17-7 in Colwyn Bay
England vs France, 29-24 in Grenoble
Log after Round 1
1. Ireland – 5 points
2. England – 5 points
3. Italy – 4 points
4. France – 1 point
5. Scotland – 1 point
6. Wales – 0 points
Round 2 Fixtures
Scotland vs England at Myreside, Edinburgh
Ireland vs Wales at Irish Independent Park, Cork
France vs Italy at Stade Maurice David, Aix-en-Provence
Round 2 Details
Teams
As they become available, we shall publish them here.
Scotland vs England
Scotland: tba
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Connor Doherty, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Tom Roebuck, 10 Manu Vunipola, 9 Sam Maunder (captain), 8 Rusi Tuima, 7 JJ Tonks (Northampton, 6 Richard Capstick, 5 Ben Donnell, 4 George Hammond, 3 Harvey Beaton, 2 Theo Dan, 1 James Whitcombe
Replacements: 16 Ben Atkins, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Luke Green, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Josh Gray, 21 Jack Van Poortvliet, 22 George Barton, 23 Ollie Sleightholme
Referee: Pierre-Baptiste Nuchy (France)
Assistant referees: Jonathan Dufort (France), Cédric Marchat (France)
Timekeeper: Graeme Eastland (Scotland)
Assessor: Tony Spreadbury (England)
Ireland vs Wales
Ireland: 15 Oran McNulty, 14 Ben Moxham, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Hayden Hyde, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Lewis Finlay, 8 David McCann (captain), 7 Mark Hernan, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Brian Deeny, 4 Thomas Ahern, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Marcus Hanan
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Harry Noonan, 18 Charlie Ward, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Tim Corkery, 23 Luis Faria
Wales: 15 Ioan Lloyd, 14 Daniel John, 13 Osian Knott, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Ewan Rosser, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Dafydd Buckland, 8 Morgan Strong, 7 Jac Morgan (captain), 6 Ioan Davies, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Jac Price, 3 Ben Warren, 2 Will Griffiths, 1 Theo Bevacqua
Replacements: 16 Dom Booth, 17 Callum Williams, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 James Fender, 20 Gwilym Bradley, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Bradley Roderick, 23 Josh Thomas
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Saba Abulashvili (Georgia), Irakli Tchanukvadze (Georgia)
Television match official: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Assessor: Jérôme Garcès (France)
France vs Italy
Referee: Pierre-Baptiste Nuch
Italy: 15 Jacopo Trulla, 14 Cristian Lai, 13 Federico Mori, 12 Giulio Bertaccini, 11 Michel Mba, 10 Paolo Garbisi (captain), 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Angelo Maurizi, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Riccardo Favretto, 3 Ion Neculai, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Matteo Drudi
Replacements: 16 Matteo Baldelli, 17 Lorenzo Michelini, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Nathanel Panozzo, 20 Luca Andreani, 21 Manfredi Albanes, 22 Mattia Ferrarin, 23 Luca Borin
France: 15 Cheikh Tiberghien, 14 Erwan Dridi, 13 Théo Costossèque, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Nathan Farissier, 10 Thomas Dolhagaray, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Jordan Joseph (capain), 7 Mattéo Le Corvec, 6 Gauthier Maravat, 5 Adrien Warion, 4 Guillard, 3 Aselo Ikahehegi, 2 Guillaume Cramont, 1 Andy Bordelai
Replacements: 16 Loris Zarantonello, 17 Sacha Lotrian, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Fabien Witz, 20 Peysson, 21 Kévin Viallard, 22 Thibault Debaes, 23 Ethan Dumortier
Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Finlay Brown (Scotland) Ruairidh Campbell (Scotland)
Television match official: Neil Patterson (Scotland)
Timekeeper: Jean-Pierre Pellaprat (France)
Assessor: Joel Jutge (France)
