IRB Junior World Championship

[Darwin]

Geez pool B looks interesting - any of Ireland, England, or France could win it (though obviously Ireland is at a disadvantage now). I wouldn't even be surprised if Argentina won a game or two and put themselves in contention!

The strange thing about the tournament this year is that there are only 3 pools (rather than 4 in past years). Therefore the semis will involve the winner of each pool, along with the second placed team with the most points - getting bonus points in every game will be very important!

 

[Darwin]

Round 2 of the tournament tomorrow:
Wales v Fiji
NZ v Samoa
England v Ireland
Argentina v France
Australia v Tonga
South Africa v Scotland

Looks like the key game in this round could be the England v Ireland game, and I'm expecting (or at least hoping!) Argentina will give France a run for their money. Wales will be looking for an improved performance versus Fiji - In the first round versus Samoa they were outscored 2 tries to 1, but won the game because of good goalkicking by Jarvis (6/7), and very poor kicking by the Samoan kicker (1/7!).

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Very much looking forward to the England Ireland match,
Lee Imolek is starting from Sale, and he's a good player especially for his age, was in the starting XV by the end of the season

 

[MunsterMan]

15 - Noel Reid (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Andrew Conway (Blackrock College/Leinster)
13 - Brendan Macken (Blackrock College/Leinster)
12 - Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
11 - Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)
10 - James McKinney (Queen's University/Ulster)
9 - John Cooney (UCD/Leinster)
1 - Jack O'Connell (Lansdowne/Leinster)
2 - Niall Annett (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
3 - Stewart Maguire (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
4 - David O'Callaghan (UCC/Munster)
5 - Brian Hayes (Cork Constitution/Munster)
6 - Rhys Ruddock (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
7 - Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
8 - Patrick Butler (Shannon/Munster)
Replacements:
16 - David Doyle (UCD/Leinster)
17 - Bryan Cagney (UCC/Munster)
18 - Ben Marshall (UCD/Leinster)
19 - Brian O'Hara (UL Bohemians/Munster)
20 - Michael Heaney (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
21 - David McSharry (UCD/Leinster)
22 - Eoin Griffin (Corinthians/Connacht)




Cooney starting :/



Irish team is bigger than last time, Brian Hayes in to bolster the row as I expect the scrum will be tested. Would have preffered Reid at 12, centres scream BOSH.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

England Squad:
15 Tom Homer (London Irish)
14 Christian Wade (London Wasps)
13 Andrew Forsyth (Leicester Tigers)
12 Tom Casson (Harlequins)
11 Sam Smith (Harlequins)
10 Rory Clegg (Harlequins)
9 Charlie Davies (Stade Francais)
1 Lee Imiolek (Sale Sharks)
2 Jamie George (Saracens)
3 Mako Vunipola (Bristol)
4 George Kruis (Saracens)
5 Charlie Matthews (Harlequins)
6 Jamie Gibson (London Irish)
7 Jacob Rowan (Leeds Carnegie, captain)
8 Alex Gray (Newcastle Falcons)

Replacements
16 Rob Buchanan (Harlequins)
17 Joe Marler (Harlequins)
18 Calum Green (Leicester Tigers)
19 Jackson Wray (Saracens)
20 Sam Harrison (Leicester Tigers)
21 Freddie Burns (Gloucester)
22 Jonny May (Gloucester)

Strong side from England
Can't wait, time to get revenge for the 6N

 

[best_fullback]

England Squad:
15 Tom Homer (London Irish)
14 Christian Wade (London Wasps)
13 Andrew Forsyth (Leicester Tigers)
12 Tom Casson (Harlequins)
11 Sam Smith (Harlequins)
10 Rory Clegg (Harlequins)
9 Charlie Davies (Stade Francais)
1 Lee Imiolek (Sale Sharks)
2 Jamie George (Saracens)
3 Mako Vunipola (Bristol)
4 George Kruis (Saracens)
5 Charlie Matthews (Harlequins)
6 Jamie Gibson (London Irish)
7 Jacob Rowan (Leeds Carnegie, captain)
8 Alex Gray (Newcastle Falcons)

Replacements
16 Rob Buchanan (Harlequins)
17 Joe Marler (Harlequins)
18 Calum Green (Leicester Tigers)
19 Jackson Wray (Saracens)
20 Sam Harrison (Leicester Tigers)
21 Freddie Burns (Gloucester)
22 Jonny May (Gloucester)

Strong side from England
Can't wait, time to get revenge for the 6N

Hmm Burns and May on the bench. Thought Clegg was good last week to be fair but May scored a hat trick and looked really good so I personally would have left him in. From watching them play last week I think there are potentially some great players that could go into the seniors from this squad. Wade looks like gas and Homer has looked good ever since I first saw him play for Irish. Good times ahead hopefully!

 

[iWin]

Sam Smith is amazing. Really glad to see him getting in the squad. Quins need to get him some senior games though.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

15 - Noel Reid (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Andrew Conway (Blackrock College/Leinster)
13 - Brendan Macken (Blackrock College/Leinster)
12 - Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
11 - Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)
10 - James McKinney (Queen's University/Ulster)
9 - John Cooney (UCD/Leinster)
1 - Jack O'Connell (Lansdowne/Leinster)
2 - Niall Annett (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
3 - Stewart Maguire (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
4 - David O'Callaghan (UCC/Munster)
5 - Brian Hayes (Cork Constitution/Munster)
6 - Rhys Ruddock (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
7 - Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
8 - Patrick Butler (Shannon/Munster)
Replacements:
16 - David Doyle (UCD/Leinster)
17 - Bryan Cagney (UCC/Munster)
18 - Ben Marshall (UCD/Leinster)
19 - Brian O'Hara (UL Bohemians/Munster)
20 - Michael Heaney (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
21 - David McSharry (UCD/Leinster)
22 - Eoin Griffin (Corinthians/Connacht)

The highlighted players are the ones I consider to be absolutely key. It's an unusual Irish front row. You never see Ireland have an upper hand in the scrum, particularly against a team like France, but they pretty much dominated in that department. This team is capable of winning matches through set pieces. That is where we're at our strongest. Our lineout is top notch (providing Annett is throwing is rather than Doyle). England are probably gonna be the toughest team to beat in our group but it's definitely do-able. Argentina showed their defense is seriously beatable.

 

[profitius]

The display against France was disappointing. The French were rattled and there for the taking.

The key Irish players for me are Cooney and Reid. Will they have solid games this time. Lets hope the pack play well too.

 

[Feicarsinn]

6 minutes in and it's 3-3. The Irish scrum is shaping up well again, that tighthead is massive! 132kg!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ireland scrum is doing very well, stronger than Englands so far
Lots of handling errors so far

 

[lucky number 7]

wow tom homer is that young ? he seemed excellent this year in gp

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Woooop, England try

 

[lucky number 7]

poor tackling there 7 should have stopped him.. well fought try though

 

[lucky number 7]

boom ryan nailed someone off the kickoff ...bit like his hit on cussiter a while back

 

[Thingimubob]

why did the ref give England an extra 10 metres for that penalty? The offside was at the halfway line and after playing advantage he awards it at the 10m line :S

 

[TRF_Olyy]

England 36 - 21 Ireland FT
Glad it ended when it did, Ireland looked very strong in the last 10mins, we got an intercept try, but were on the back foot for a long time.

Irelands scrum was a lot stronger than i expected, stronger than the English, though the English scrum got stronger with the inclusion of Joe Marler
Clegg, Burns, Forsyth and Homer all looked strong for England
Spence and Zebo stood out the most, for me, from Ireland


Also, how fast is/was Christian Wade? Absolutely insane

 

[MunsterMan]

Ireland dissapointing, England impressive.

Irish coaches are appalling, backs like Zebo and Conway and we are wither kicking aimlessly or arsing about on the blindside getting tackled into touch. England very good, referee was very nice to them mind but they were good for their win. Clegg and Burns both have bright futures, Clegg gave them plenty of direction and varied the play very well.

Clarke out!

Very nice to see Ireland dominating the scrum. A decent ref would have given us plenty of penalties, although the English number 8 cleaned up very well behind a retreating scrum, thought he was excellent.

There is always next year, with plenty of guys young enough to come back for a second crack, hopefully with better coaches.

 

[dullonien]

Anyone know how the Wales v Fiji match went? IRB seem exceptionally slow at updating their website.

 

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Nope, but Scotland 0-73 South Africa