Ireland Under-20s squad?

[waterboy]

Look like they've got the win now. Well worked by them after the game seemed to be slipping away from them

[Donny B.]

England - NZ going down to the wire. I might have spoken too soon about the BBs. England seem to have totally lost it since they had that big lead

And the minute I say that, England get a try. Not quite sure how the TMO gave it though

[Grumpy Old Man]

He was asked if there was any reason not to award it, so presumably had to see a reason to disallow it.

[domhnallj]

England - NZ going down to the wire. I might have spoken too soon about the BBs. England seem to have totally lost it since they had that big lead

And the minute I say that, England get a try. Not quite sure how the TMO gave it though

There was a pretty convincing camera shot from behind the goals that showed a grounding.

[hugonaut]

Tough break for the lads tonight. Without seeing the game it's impossible to know how difficult the placekicks were, but I've a fair bit of sympathy for Scannell who had a good Six Nations and isn't the first-choice goal kicker.

NH final for the first time in the [short] history of this competition. Good to see the SH hegemony broken.

[tate]

as an aside, i had to come here to read the results. Neither the IT nor the IRFU site have it up yet. How f%~king hard is it to give the result and say "report to follow"

edit: found it on the IRFU website eventually.

[locho]

NH final for the first time in the [short] history of this competition. Good to see the SH hegemony broken.

Considering we should have beaten the BBs, and did beat Australia, this tournament has really been dominated by NH teams. A real pity we didn't make the real semi as with our Squad i think we could have easily taken England and Wales!!

[lummix]

NH final for the first time in the [short] history of this competition. Good to see the SH hegemony broken.

Considering we should have beaten the BBs, and did beat Australia, this tournament has really been dominated by NH teams. A real pity we didn't make the real semi as with our Squad i think we could have easily taken England and Wales!!

We didn't even beat France, lets not get over excited. New Zealand's performance tonight puts our performance into perspective.

2 players that will be Irish internationals Ed Byrne and Dan leavy. Ruddock started both on the bench. Oh what might have been.

[jezzer]

Dan Leavy could be Fergus Slattery / Nigel Carr good.

That is all.

[ceemec]

Massive silver lining with losing last night. As England and Wales will be the top two seeds one of them will be our top seed for next year. Our second seed will be one of France or Argentina. Could have a pool of Wales and Argentina for a place in the WC semi final.

[Donny B.]

Dan Leavy could be Fergus Slattery / Nigel Carr good.

That is all.

Sssshhhhhhhhhh........

[Peg Leg]

I've enjoyed watching these games, but one thing that concerns me (about every team or the coaching thereof) is the lack of positioning in making/taking contact.
How many times over the course of this competition was it two men hitting each other standing straight- THWACK?
You can't play rugby for any length of time to be considered a career, at that shite. Surely the coaching staff are aware of this, the g-force impact of (many variables here) two men hitting each other at pace eclipses that of a box in the head from a heavy weight boxer (that's just more focused).
I know a lot of it is down to the fact that coaching tends to go out the window when you think you see a gap- but these lads aren't running at gaps. They are trying to create them using their body (an important part of the game no less), but the technique (or lack of) is frightening.

[hugonaut]

Massive silver lining with losing last night. As England and Wales will be the top two seeds one of them will be our top seed for next year. Our second seed will be one of France or Argentina. Could have a pool of Wales and Argentina for a place in the WC semi final.

Funny how the groups work out, isn't it? I really like the way that the JWC is resolved to the last degree, i.e. every team plays five matches, every team gets a final account of where they stand in the competition.

We'll hopefully have some good players returning for both the U20 Six Nations and the JWC, injury permitting. Dooley, Timmins, Leavy, O'Donoghue and Adam Byrne were the U19s in this year's squad, and Irish U19s captain Sean O'Brian [Connacht version] would have made it into the second row if he wasn't doing his Leaving Cert at the same time. A very good prospect, that lad.

The Leinster centre pairing of Peter Robb and Rory O'Loughlin were quite impressive against England in the U19 international I saw at Donnybrook; Robb wasn't necessarily a big name in schools rugby [compared to O'Loughlin, for example] but looks like a bit of a find at No12. He's got good habits in terms of handling, passing and lines of running, and he looks like a guy who has pushed himself incredibly hard in terms of strength and conditioning [photo: http://www.sportsfile.com/id/738230/ ].

He was one of the few Irish players who was able to physically compete for the full 80 mins with what was an enormous English team. His opposite number was a wee tank, about 5'9 and 17 stone, and Robb was able to stop him in his tracks when it went one-on-one. He's a good, well-rounded player and maybe somebody who has gone a little under the radar but worth keeping an eye out for next season.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Agree with that too Peg Leg but wouldn't include Ireland in that. We looked really well coached in that department. Leavy in particular is very good at shifting his feet at the last second and then hitting taking contact on the defenders weak shoulder. Van Der Flier was excellent in that regard too. Most of our players were, just thought those guys were particularly good.

A lot of the other teams were very poor at it though, there have been a ridiculous amount of turnovers in most of the games I've seen.

[Peg Leg]

Agree with that too Peg Leg but wouldn't include Ireland in that. We looked really well coached in that department. Leavy in particular is very good at shifting his feet at the last second and then hitting taking contact on the defenders weak shoulder. Van Der Flier was excellent in that regard too. Most of our players were, just thought those guys were particularly good.

A lot of the other teams were very poor at it though, there have been a ridiculous amount of turnovers in most of the games I've seen.

True, NZ v ENG last night a bit too fresh in the mind.

[cormac]

Massive silver lining with losing last night. As England and Wales will be the top two seeds one of them will be our top seed for next year. Our second seed will be one of France or Argentina. Could have a pool of Wales and Argentina for a place in the WC semi final.

That would have been the case if we'd won last night too. The pools are seeded as follows:

Pool 1: 1,6,7,12
Pool 2: 2,5,8,11
Pool 3: 3,4,9,10

So, once you're in the 5th-8th play-offs you can't face either of the semi-final losers.

Next year we'll have a pool of England/Wales, Argentina/France, Ireland, Fiji/USA/Italy depending on whether we finish 7th or 8th.

[ribs]

Massive silver lining with losing last night. As England and Wales will be the top two seeds one of them will be our top seed for next year. Our second seed will be one of France or Argentina. Could have a pool of Wales and Argentina for a place in the WC semi final.

That would have been the case if we'd won last night too. The pools are seeded as follows:

Pool 1: 1,6,7,12
Pool 2: 2,5,8,11
Pool 3: 3,4,9,10

So, once you're in the 5th-8th play-offs you can't face either of the semi-final losers.

Next year we'll have a pool of England/Wales, Argentina/France, Ireland, Fiji/USA/Italy depending on whether we finish 7th or 8th.

Wow - what an advantage to getting first seeding (seeds 6,7 and 12 in your group)

[dropkick]

Pity about losing to France but it might work out to be a good thing.

Next season promises to be another good crop of players, probably better than this seasons? There are a few more players in academies next season to choose from which could mean a stronger squad.

[bronxbull]

How good will our back row be in a few years?
SOB, Jordi, Kmac, Ruddock, Conan, Gilsenan, Leavy, Van der Flier...we will be doing well to hold on to the younger guys
re:game time but there are a few gems in there.

[ceemec]

How good will our back row be in a few years?
SOB, Jordi, Kmac, Ruddock, Conan, Gilsenan, Leavy, Van der Flier...we will be doing well to hold on to the younger guys
re:game time but there are a few gems in there.

There will definitely be a few of those guys elsewhere, I would think. Too many flankers and not enough room at the inn. Heaslip also has another 4 years left in him minimum and will take some displacing. Jenno has at least another 2 seasons, he doesn't turn 32 until later this summer. We can add Dominic Ryan to that list too.