Ireland juniors have a new coach

NEWS: The Irish Rugby Football Union announced the appointment of Neil Doak as the Under-20 coach for 2025.

Doak, who has overseen a number of preparatory camps at the IRFU High-Performance Centre in recent weeks, brings a wealth of experience to the role as the extended Ireland U20 squad gears up towards their 2025 Six Nations age group opener against England on Thursday, January 30.

The former Ulster scrumhalf has coached the Ireland U18 and Combined Academies in recent seasons and was part of the Ireland U20 coaching team for last season’s U20 World Championship in South Africa as a Senior Coach.

Doak will be assisted during the 2025 campaign by ássistant coaches Ian Keatley, who continues in his role from last year’s Six Nations and U20 World Championship, and former Connacht second row Andrew Browne and Seamus Toomey.

An extended Ireland U20 squad will step up preparations for the U20 Six Nations in the coming weeks, as they face Italy U20 in an uncapped match on Friday, December 20 at St Mary’s College, before going head-to-head with a Leinster Development XV at Energia Park on Saturday, January 4.

From there, Doak will select his squad for the Championship which gets underway against England in Cork, before a trip to Edinburgh in Round Two to face Scotland on Saturday, February 8.

Ireland U20 travel to Rodney Parade on Friday, February 21, before welcoming France for a Round Four showdown on Friday, March 7.

The Championship concludes with an away clash against Italy in Treviso on Friday, March 14.

Looking ahead to the campaign, Doak said: “It is a huge honour to take on the role of Ireland U20 Coach, and a challenge I am massively excited about.

“We have had a number of camps in the High-Performance Centre and the application, hard work and commitment of the players have been really impressive.

“We have a lot of work to get through in preparation for the U20 Six Nations, but the group are focused on building positively day-by-day and the upcoming matches against Italy and the Leinster Development XV over the Christmas and New Year period present us with an invaluable opportunity to build that cohesion and momentum.

“We look forward to the challenges ahead, starting off with the visit of England to Virgin Media Park, where the Ireland U20 has received incredible support from the people of Cork in recent years, and we are determined to continue our excellent home record there and produce a performance we can be proud of.”