McCarthy ruled out of Ireland U20

 

The scrumhalf and captain of Ireland damaged his shoulder during the 3-25 defeat to New Zealand and was replaced just before half-time.

 

Munster scrumhalf Jack Cullen has been called up to the Ireland U20 squad for the remainder of the tournament. Flank Josh Murphy, one of Ireland's standout performers in Italy so far, will take over the captaincy responsibilities.

 

Cullen already has seven Ireland U20 caps to his name, including one start, having played in both the 2014 and 2015 U20 Six Nations Championships.

 

The Pool C loss to New Zealand marked Nick McCarthy's 18th appearance for Ireland at U20 level across two seasons. The Dublin-born scrumhalf is a member of the Leinster Academy and played for Leinster 'A' in this year's British & Irish Cup.

 

Giving his reaction after the New Zealand game, McCarthy admitted: "We're all very disappointed [to lose] after those two good wins [over Argentina and Scotland] at the start. We played some pretty good rugby at times but just their points came pretty easy.

 

"Stupid penalties from us gave them some easy pitch position and they capitalised and took their chances well. I think to be fair to our boys we fought hard to the end and we're really looking forward to playing Wales now in a few days' time and look to rebound from that."

 

The Ireland U20 team, who won their opening two pool matches in Italy, will play Wales on Monday in the fifth-eighth place play-offs at Stadio Luigi Zaffanella in Viadana.