Ireland U20 2019

First topic message reminder :

Ireland U20 Squad (World Rugby U20 Championship 2019)

Forwards
Declan Adamson (Clontarf/Leinster) *
Thomas Ahern (Shannon/Munster) *
Azur Allison (Ballymena/Ulster) *
Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)
Ciaran Booth (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby) *
Tom Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)
John Hodnett (UCC/Munster)
David McCann (Banbridge/Ulster)
John McKee (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Michael Milne (UCD/Leinster)
Niall Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Charlie Ryan (UCD/Leinster) Captain
Dylan Tierney-Martin (Corinthians/Connacht)
Charlie Ward (Clontarf/Leinster) *
Ronan Watters (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
Josh Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster)

Backs
Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster) Vice-Captain
Jake Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
Cormac Foley (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
Sean French (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Ben Healy (Garryowen/Munster)
Iwan Hughes (Ballynahinch/Ulster) *
Angus Kernohan (Queen’s University/Ulster)
Stewart Moore (Malone/Ulster) *
Colm Reilly (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Rob Russell (Dublin University/Leinster)
Liam Turner (Dublin University/Leinster)
Jonathan Wren (Cork Constitution/Munster)

*Denotes uncapped at this level
Unavailable due to injury
Harry Byrne
Brian Deeny
David Hawkshaw
Martin Moloney
Scott Penny
Conor Phillips

Ireland U20 World Rugby U20 Championships Fixtures
Pool A
England v Ireland
Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada, Santa Fe
Tuesday 4th June 2019
KO: 15:30 (local) / 19:30 (Irish)

Australia v Ireland
Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada, Santa Fe
Saturday 8th June, 2019
KO: 10:30 (local) / 14:30 (Irish)

Italy v Ireland
Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada, Santa Fe
Wednesday 12th June, 2019
KO: 10:30 (local) / 14:30 (Irish)

Semi-Finals / Play-Offs
Racecourse Stadium, Rosario OR Club Old Resian, Rosario
Monday 17th June 2019

Finals Day
Racecourse Stadium, Rosario / Club Old Resian, Rosario
Saturday 22nd June 2019

Broadcast Information
Ireland’s games will be shown live on Eir Sport in the Republic of Ireland, with ITV holding UK TV rights. If games are not shown live on TV, they will be streamed via World Rugby Online Channels.


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6 nations info

Squad announced early today. Big 40 man squad.


Their final game of the tournament is away to Wales on the 15th March in Colwyn Bay.

Tickets for the home fixtures in Irish Independent Park are available from www.ticketmaster.ie

IRELAND U20 Squad, sponsored by PwC, for the U20 Six Nations Championship 2019



Forwards:
Azur Allison (Ballymena RFC/Ulster)
Ryan Baird (Dublin University FC/Leinster)
Tom Clarkson (Dublin University FC/Leinster)
Giuseppe Coyne (Dublin University FC/Leinster)
Brian Deeney (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
John Hodnett (UCC RFC/Munster)
Paddy Kelly (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
Ryan Lomas (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
Luke Masters (Shannon RFC/Munster)
David McCann (Banbridge RFC/Ulster)
JJ McKee (Ballymena RFC/Ulster)
John McKee (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)
Michael Milne (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Martin Moloney (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)
Niall Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
Scott Penny (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Charlie Ryan (UCD RFC/Leinster) * Vice-Captain
Billy Scannell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
Dylan Tierney-Martin (Corinthians RFC/Connacht) *
Ronan Watters (St. Mary's College RFC/Leinster)
Josh Wycherley (Young Munster RFC/Munster)

Backs:
Harry Byrne (Lansdowne FC/Leinster) *
Craig Casey (Shannon RFC/Munster) Vice-Captain
Jake Flannery (Shannon RFC/Munster)
Sean French (Cork Constitution RFC/Munster)
Cormac Foley (St. Mary's College RFC/Leinster)
David Hawkshaw (Clontarf FC/Old Belvedere) Captain
Ben Healy (Garryowen RFC/Munster)
Bruce Houston (Ballymena RFC/Ulster)
Iwan Hughes (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster)
Angus Kernohan (Queen's University RFC / Ulster) *
James McCarthy (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster) *
Stewart Moore (Malone RFC/Ulster)
Oli Morris (Saracens / IQ Rugby)
Aaron O'Sullivan (UCD RFC/Leinster/IQ Rugby)
Conor Phillips (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
Colm Reilly (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
Rob Russell (Dublin University FC/Leinster)
Liam Turner (Dublin University FC/Leinster)
Jonathan Wren (Cork Constitution FC/Munster)

*Denotes Previously Capped at U20 level


IRELAND U20 Six Nations Fixtures 2019
Friday 1st February 2019
Ireland U20 v England U20, 7.15pm, Irish Independent Park, Cork
Live on RTE

Friday 8th February 2019
Scotland U20 v Ireland U20, 7.30pm. Netherdale, Galashiels
TBC

Friday 22nd February 2019
Italy U20 v Ireland U20, Stadio Centro d'Italia, Rieti
Stream via FIR - Facebook.com/Federugby & Youtube.com/Fedrugby

Friday 8th March 2019
Ireland U20 v France U20, 7.15pm, Irish Independent Park, Cork
Live on RTE

Friday 15th March 2019
Wales U20 v Ireland U20, 7.15pm, Stadwim Zip World (Parc Eirias), Colwyn Bay
Live on RTE



Positions
LH Prop
Michael Milne(Roscrea/UCD)
Josh Whycerely(Roscrea/Young Munster)
Guiseppe Coyne(Blackrock/DUFC)

TH Prop
Thomas Clarkson(Blackrock/DUFC) - u19
Ryan Lomas(Roscrea/Galwegians)
Luke Masters(CBC/Shannon)

Hooker
Dylan Tierney(Corinthians)
Billy Scannell(PBC/Young Munster)
John McKee(Campbell/Old Belvedere) - u19

Lock
Charlie Ryan(Blackrock/UCD)
Ryan Baird(St. Michaels/DUFC)
JJ McKee(Antrim/Ballymena)
Brian Deeny(Wexford/Clontarf) - u19
Paddy Kelly(St. Munchins/Young Munster) - u19

Backrow
Scott Penny(St. Michaels/UCD)
Martin Moloney(Athy/Old Belvedere)
John Hodnett(Clonakilty/UCC)
Azur Allison(Ballymena/Ballymena)
Niall Murray(Buccaneers)
David McCann(RBAI/Banbridge) - u19
Ronan Watters(St. Marys/St. Marys)

Scrumhalf
Craig Casey(Ard Scoil Ris/Shannon)
Colm Reilly(Buccaneers)
Cormac Foley(St. Gerards/St. Marys)

Outhalf
Harry Byrne(St. Michaels/Lansdowne)
Ben Healy(Glenstal/Garryowen)
Bruce Houston(Ballymena/Ballymena)

Centre
Sean French(PBC/Cork Con)
David Hawkshaw(Belvedere/Clontarf)
Stewart Moore(Ballymena/Malone)
Oli Morris(Exile) - u19

Back 3
Iwan Hughes(Exile/Ballynahinch)
James McCarthy(Exile/UL Bohs)
Angus Kernohen(Ballymena/Ballymena)
Aaron O'Sullivan(Exile/)
Liam Turner(Blackrock/DUFC)
Jonathan Wren(PBC/Cork Con)
Conor Phillips(Crescent/Young Munster)
Jake Flannery(Rockwell/Shannon)
Rob Russell(St. Michaels/DUFC)

Collapse2005 wrote:We got the rub of the green from the ref but great win all the same.

Don't agree. Healey's foot looked in touch for his try but then the pass for the first England try was also forward. Vunipola touched the ball back into his 22 and the subsequent lineout was from 30m upfield, (when the Ireland maul was rampant). Ireland got the benefit of an overly long k/o advantage where the England wing was pulled back with no one in front. The shoulder-leading hits weren't great by England and another day, another ref, they could have been shown three reds.

Love Casey's attitude but not keen on him clapping the Hooker at the l/os, he should have been at least warned for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Don't even know why he did it as their Hooker brought memories of Steve Thompson's accuracy flooding back.

Really like the idea of the 13 man bench. Playing games of that intensity on hard ground in that heat and with the fixtures so close together, was so attritional in previous years that the final matches were often contended between understudies with only a handful of tournament minutes behind them. A player can be managed much better with so many subs and hopefully fewer get injured out of the tournament.

Be careful what you wish for.  You might think that games will become more exciting with more subs available.  But I see the risks of having more and more monsters on the field who can do their ten cents worth of utter destruction without having to worry unduly about losing pace or energy.  They just get replaced by another juggernaut.

Stamina can be a great leveller in a game of 80 minutes.  We have to be careful of welcoming too many players onto a bench long term.

The Great Aukster wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:We got the rub of the green from the ref but great win all the same.

Don't agree. Healey's foot looked in touch for his try but then the pass for the first England try was also forward. Vunipola touched the ball back into his 22 and the subsequent lineout was from 30m upfield, (when the Ireland maul was rampant). Ireland got the benefit of an overly long k/o advantage where the England wing was pulled back with no one in front. The shoulder-leading hits weren't great by England and another day, another ref, they could have been shown three reds.

Love Casey's attitude but not keen on him clapping the Hooker at the l/os, he should have been at least warned for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Don't even know why he did it as their Hooker brought memories of Steve Thompson's accuracy flooding back.

Really like the idea of the 13 man bench. Playing games of that intensity on hard ground in that heat and with the fixtures so close together, was so attritional in previous years that the final matches were often contended between understudies with only a handful of tournament minutes behind them. A player can be managed much better with so many subs and hopefully fewer get injured out of the tournament.

Agree with all that. The rub comment was specifically on the two yellows more than anything.

Not a fan of the clapping either. Thought Casey did some good stuff some not so good. A bit over enthusuastic maybe. I liked our sub OH, very composed.

Good stuff from the team. Another bit test coming up on Saturday.

I wonder are Australia any good. Is there an under 20s rugby championship? Cant see reference to one online.

Collapse2005 wrote:I wonder are Australia any good. Is there an under 20s rugby championship? Cant see reference to one online.

There was an Oceania Championship with NZ, Fiji and Japan this year that Australia won

Didn't see their game but they look damn slick, smooth and comfortable in the highlights.  Seem to be calm but ruthless when they sniff a chance.

Against Italy, well how do you judge them?  Only way to can attempt a comparison with Ireland is to look at the results.

36 - 12

In our game away to Italy in the 6N the score was  34 points to us against their 14.

So again, you can talk about conditions being different etc but if you ask a question about how good are they, well that's as good an answer as you might come up with right now in terms of they and us meeting next.

Pretty even quality on paper but they do look sharp with an easy change of gears when required.  No complacency accepted from Ireland here. These are the games that tend to do us when we think we've had the big scalp the game before.

marty2086 wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:I wonder are Australia any good. Is there an under 20s rugby championship? Cant see reference to one online.

There was an Oceania Championship with NZ, Fiji and Japan this year that Australia won

Interesting thanks. Some good enough rugby schools in Oz.

SecretFly wrote:Didn't see their game but they look damn slick, smooth and comfortable in the highlights.  Seem to be calm but ruthless when they sniff a chance.

Against Italy, well how do you judge them?  Only way to can attempt a comparison with Ireland is to look at the results.

36 - 12

In our game away to Italy in the 6N the score was  34 points to us against their 14.

So again, you can talk about conditions being different etc but if you ask a question about how good are they, well that's as good an answer as you might come up with right now in terms of they and us meeting next.

Pretty even quality on paper but they do look sharp with an easy change of gears when required.  No complacency accepted from Ireland here. These are the games that tend to do us when we think we've had the big scalp the game before.

I reckon Ireland will beat them

SecretFly wrote:Be careful what you wish for.  You might think that games will become more exciting with more subs available.  But I see the risks of having more and more monsters on the field who can do their ten cents worth of utter destruction without having to worry unduly about losing pace or energy.  They just get replaced by another juggernaut.

Stamina can be a great leveller in a game of 80 minutes.  We have to be careful of welcoming too many players onto a bench long term.

Not advocating having more subs other than for this specific tournament in which the players have two four-day turnarounds and then two five-day gaps. Five games in 18 days on a tour in Argentina is a punishing and unparalleled schedule so the bench dispensation is necessary.

It is a good idea and for under 20s it makes sense to allow for more rotation anyway as the under 20s tournament is meant to facilitate progression to the senior game so no harm in having as many players involved as possible.

IRELAND UNDER-20 Team & Replacements (v Australia Under-20s, 2019 World Rugby U-20 Championship – Pool B, Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada, Santa Fe, Argentina, Saturday, June 8, kick-off 10.30 local time/2.30pm Irish time):

15. Rob Russell (Dublin University/Leinster)
14. Angus Kernohan (Queen’s University/Ulster)
13. Liam Turner (Dublin University/Leinster)
12. Stewart Moore (Malone/Ulster)
11. Jonathan Wren (Cork Constitution/Munster)
10. Jake Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
9. Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)
1. Josh Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster)
2. Dylan Tierney-Martin (Corinthians/Connacht)
3. Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)
4. Charlie Ryan (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
5. Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)
6. David McCann (Banbridge/Ulster)
7. Ronan Watters (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
8. John Hodnett (UCC/Munster)

Replacements:
16. John McKee (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
17. Michael Milne (UCD/Leinster)
18. Charlie Ward (Clontarf/Leinster)
19. Declan Adamson (Clontarf/Leinster)
20. Niall Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)
22. Ciaran Booth (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby)
23. Thomas Ahern (Shannon/Munster)
24. Colm Reilly (Buccaneers/Connacht)
25. Ben Healy (Garryowen/Munster)
26. Cormac Foley (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)

Sean French and Hughes ruled out of the rest of the tournament. Disappointing not to see more of French in particular.


Max O'Reilly and Aaron O'Sullivan replace them.


Flannery still at 10 which is the big talking point though I thought he was fine and he has a bit of an X factor that can open up defences.

Allison going through the return to play protocols so misses out too

profitius wrote:Sean French and Hughes ruled out of the rest of the tournament. Disappointing not to see more of French in particular.


Max O'Reilly and Aaron O'Sullivan replace them.


Flannery still at 10 which is the big talking point though I thought he was fine and he has a bit of an X factor that can open up defences.

Amazing the amount of injuries that have hit the squad already but it's allowed more players to get exposure at this level and put their hands up for academy places.

Collapse2005 wrote:It is a good idea and for under 20s it makes sense to allow for more rotation anyway as the under 20s tournament is meant to facilitate progression to the senior game so no harm in having as many players involved as possible.

... except it doesn't. Just read that even though there are 13 players on the bench the coach can only make a maximum of 8 substitutions - should have known WR wouldn't be that enlightened.

Ireland saw a red card after 20 minutes?

They are 10-17 up at the moment, going into the final quarter..

Rugby Fan wrote:Ireland saw a red card after 20 minutes?

They are 10-17 up at the moment, going into the final quarter..

Went a bit wrong in that last quarter.
Could well have been a few more reds

Yes, OZ got a yellow for an arguably worse challenge, and didn't even get penalised when their Hooker took Watters out of the game. The officials weren't good as Casey's try never looked grounded, and a couple of Australia's had obvious forward passes in the build up. It was also incredible that the TMO recommended a penalty during an injury break and the ref agreed but took no action.
What is remarkable about this Ireland team is their never say die attitude. They are exceptionally calm and despite being usually dwarfed in size they make good decisions to stay in the game - Noel McNamara deserves great credit for that. Don't see many of these players making it to the very top level, although Charlie Ryan is a very impressive leader.

The Great Aukster wrote:Yes, OZ got a yellow for an arguably worse challenge, and didn't even get penalised when their Hooker took Watters out of the game. The officials weren't good as Casey's try never looked grounded, and a couple of Australia's had obvious forward passes in the build up. It was also incredible that the TMO recommended a penalty during an injury break and the ref agreed  but took no action.
What is remarkable about this Ireland team is their never say die attitude. They are exceptionally calm and despite being usually dwarfed in size they make good decisions to stay in the game - Noel McNamara deserves great credit for that. Don't see many of these players making it to the very top level, although Charlie Ryan is a very impressive leader.

I wouldn’t be too harsh. Going down to 14 men early on was always gonna a win difficult in this comp and location. Australia finally worked out how to take advantage of the extra man and Ireland having two hookers on the pitch.

Ryan, Hodnett, McCann, Casey are possible names for the future and Tierney-Martin is a good look too.

England were only up 7-6 at halftime against Italy.

Only managed to catch bits as was at work. But the breakdown seemed to be a free for all, the ref didn't seem to police anything, it was close to being seriously dangerous at times.
But to be 7 points up with a man down shows the intelligence and bloody mindedness of these lads.
Aus finally managed to make there extra man work when our lads were blowing at the end.
But great performance

IRELAND UNDER-20 Team & Replacements (v Italy Under-20s, 2019 World Rugby U-20 Championship – Pool B, Club de Rugby Atheneo Immaculada, Santa Fe, Argentina, Wednesday, June 12, kick-off 10.30am local time/2.30pm Irish time):

15. Jake Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
14. Angus Kernohan (Queen’s University/Ulster)
13. Liam Turner (Dublin University/Leinster) (capt)
12. Cormac Foley (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
11. Rob Russell (Dublin University/Leinster)
10. Ben Healy (Garryowen/Munster)
9. Colm Reilly (Buccaneers/Connacht)
1. Josh Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster)
2. John McKee (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
3. Michael Milne (UCD/Leinster)
4. Thomas Ahern (Shannon/Munster) *
5. Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)
6. David McCann (Banbridge/Ulster)
7. Ciaran Booth (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby)
8. Azur Allison (Ballymena/Ulster)

Replacements:

16. Declan Adamson (Clontarf/Leinster)
17. Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)
18. Charlie Ward (Clontarf/Leinster)
19. Dylan Tierney-Martin (Corinthians/Connacht)
20. Charlie Ryan (UCD/Leinster)
21. Niall Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)
22. Luke Clohessy (Shannon/Munster) *
24. Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)
25. Jonathan Wren (Cork Constitution/Munster)
26. David Ryan (UCD/Leinster) *
27. Aaron O’Sullivan (UCD/Leinster) *
28. Max O’Reilly (Dublin University/Leinster) *

* Denotes uncapped player at this level

Ireland doing everything they can to have a chance of making the semis. 24-0 up after half an hour.

And now giving the points back to Italy.

31-14 on 45 mins.

Any red cards yet?

Nope. They’ve got the scoreboard ticking in their favor again but the heat seems to be killing them - lots of handling errors and attacking chances breaking down with poor passes.

38-14 on 64 minutes.

I think that chances are that it wont be enough to make it to the quarters as there are a few teams already on 10 points and only one team goes through as best runner up I think. We might go through if France hammer Argentina and one of SA or NZ hammer each other.

Considering if was a red card that finally cooked their goose even after a valiant effort on 14.  .... I think these boys can hold their head up on the efforts they put in to get as far as they could.  Sometimes you can't beat fate but you can fight it every step of the way.

I think with a plus 12 points difference it will be almost impossible for Ireland to advance to the 1/2s. I think they would need SA to lose to NZ by 40 points or vice versa and France to beat Argentina. England could also do us a favour and beat Australia by 40 points but none of those scenarios seem likely. Actually Australia cant finish 2nd as they beat Ireland so points difference doesn't count in that scenario.

The French do the dirty on us. Thanks Lads

Watching SA v NZ. SA really dominating. NZ escape a red card with just a penalty for a similar incident as the Ireland red v Australia. Baffling.

There is a good chance Ireland will top the group in terms of points and points difference but still bizarrely not make the quarters because they lost to Australia.

England putting a cricket score on 14 man Australia.

Hardly bizarre. Those are the qualification rules. Aussies smashed Ireland. Having said that, from reading the live comments on YouTube during the games, many people don’t understand the criteria for qualifying. Head to head is definitely better than other ways as it takes thrashing a rubbish side who are already done out of the equation.

Didnt have much luck but at the end of the day it's a good crop of talent this year. Arguably better than the 2016 squad that got to the final.

As well as all the injuries we got a sh!t group and on the receiving end of some bad ref calls. Hopefully they finish on a high.


Here's the 2016 squad..
2016
Stephen Kerins (Sligo/Connacht)
Niall Saunders (Epsom College/Exiles)
Bill Johnston (Garryowen/Munster) *
Johnny McPhillips (Queen's University/Ulster)
Conor O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Jimmy O'Brien (UCD/Leinster)
Paul Kiernan (UCC/Munster)
Jacob Stockdale (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Terry Kennedy (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster)
Matthew Byrne (Terenure College/Leinster)
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster)
James Bollard (Dublin UniversityLeinster)
Vakh Abdaladze (Clontarf/Leinster)
Adam McBurney (Ballymena/Ulster)
Vincent O'Brien (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
Conor Kenny (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Ben Betts (Young Munster/Munster)
Cillian Gallagher (Sligo/Connacht)
James Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster) (capt)
Sean O'Connor (Cashel/Munster)
Evan Mintern (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Greg Jones (UCD/Leinster)
Will Connors (UCD/Leinster)
Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Kelvin Brown (Shannon/Munster)
David Aspil (St. Mary's College RFC/Leinster)

I think we play you again in next match. If my maths are correct Ireland finish as 6th seeds, England as 7th. Winner gets to play NZ or Wales.

Don't usually look at numbers much..but ain't that something that one of th few times I look at a poster's details, it's:

LondonTiger

Posts: 20011

Join Date: 2011-02-10

Not a seismic event but just nice timing

Cyril wrote:Hardly bizarre. Those are the qualification rules. Aussies smashed Ireland. Having said that, from reading the live comments on YouTube during the games, many people don’t understand the criteria for qualifying. Head to head is definitely better than other ways as it takes thrashing a rubbish side who are already done out of the equation.

Ireland were beating Australia until the 65 minute or something like that with 14 men. I suspect they would have beat Australia if it wasnt for the early red. I reckon they got a bit lucky as I think England and Ireland are better sides.

It would be odd if Australia topped the group with the same points and less points difference but they got a bp in the end anyway.

Yes we’ll reds have certainly hurt some. You could say the same Eng vs oz who lost a man to red after 2 minutes. Earliest I’ve seen a red card anywhere. And on both occasions those sides were thrashed.
For oz to score 33 points with 14 players is incredible and would likely have won based on earlier results.
NZ loses to SA after it seems knocking the ball on umpteen times. Didn’t catch the match. So they have work to do.

Australia had already qualified when they got their red though so it made no difference to them really. All three sides got a red in key games in that group although England got theirs on the 68th minute v Ireland and were already behind at the time.

Ireland got theirs at around the 20 minute mark and were still in the game until the last 10 minutes so it was probably a more critical red.

True. So who’s through? NZ, SA, oz, France? NZ thru as Firth qualifier? Haven’t checked.

Wouldn't four groups of three make more sense? There's been a lot made of the tough schedule and this would reduce the number of games in the tournament and get rid of the best runners up nonsense.

NZ were very lucky not to get a red against SA for a hit to the head of the SA scrum half. Given the momentum of the game at the time you have to expect they would have copped a hiding too.

Taylorman wrote:True. So who’s through? NZ, SA, oz, France? NZ thru as Firth qualifier? Haven’t checked.

No NZ dont make the semis. Arg, Fra, SA and Oz through.

Fergus Burke for NZ couldnt have a more Irish name. Future Ireland 10?

For us a loss is a hiding
But yes they probably would have been belted.
Haven’t watched the matches. Spark has done a sneak here and it’s streaming only from here thru to World Cup. Will have to fork out the seventy buks I guess. Useless SKY.

Well this Ireland side were seeded 11th and werent fancied to do well this year so I think they can be proud enough to get a slam and narrowly miss out on the semis.

Keep an eye out for SAs Van Der Mesche. Jeepers he is a brute.

SA and Aus have some huge locks this year. SA keep putting out these 6’8 - 120kg+ locks every year and they’re usually pretty good.

Yes that Dutch heritage coming through the Van der's again and again...

Ban the Dutch now, is it?