Ireland head coach Richie Murphy has made two changes for Saturday’s U20 Six Nations clash with England at StoneX Stadium as the visitors continue their Grand Slam quest.
Ben Carson comes into the Ireland backline and Lorcan McLoughlin has been promoted to a starting position in the back row in the two alterations to the side that beat Italy in Round 3 at Musgrave Park.
Carson featured for Ireland during last year’s Six Nations Under-20s in Cardiff and joins Jude Postlethwaite in midfield for the showdown against England in Barnet, after Ben Brownlee was ruled out through injury.
Murphy has selected an unchanged back three with Patrick Campbell, Chay Mullins and Fionn Gibbons retained, while Charlie Tector and Matthew Devine continue their half-back partnership.
Ulster’s Reuben Crothers once again captains Murphy’s youngsters from the back row, where McLoughlin comes in at blindside and James Culhane continues at number eight.
Murphy said: “We’ve had another good window of preparation for this game, including last week’s session against the Senior Team at Aviva Stadium. We identified areas where we needed to improve on from Italy and recognise the requirement to hit another level of performance on Saturday night.”
Ireland U20s:
15. Patrick Campbell (Young Munster RFC/Munster) 14. Chay Mullins (Bristol Bears/IQ Rugby) 13. Jude Postlethwaite (Banbridge RFC/Ulster) 12. Ben Carson (Banbridge RFC/Ulster) 11. Fionn Gibbons (UCD RFC/Leinster) 10. Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster) 9. Matthew Devine (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
1. Jack Boyle (UCD RFC/Leinster) 2. James McCormick (Ballymena RFC/Ulster) 3. Rory McGuire (UCD RFC/Leinster) 4. Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster) 5. Mark Morrissey (UCD RFC/Leinster) 6. Lorcan McLoughlin (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster) 7. Reuben Crothers (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster) (capt) 8. James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster).
Replacements:
16. Josh Hanlon (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster) 17. Oisin Michel (Lansdowne FC/Leinster) 18. Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast/Ulster) 19. James McNabney (Ballymena RFC/Ulster) 20. Diarmuid Mangan (UCD RFC/Leinster) 21. Ethan Coughlan (Shannon RFC/Munster) 22. Tony Butler (Garryowen FC/Munster) 23. Aitzol King (Clontarf FC/Leinster).
