Ireland stick to Musgrave Park for 2023 Under-20 Six Nations home games

Ireland will continue to play their home games in the Under-20 Six Nations Championship at Musgrave Park, where they will host France and England in this season’s tournament.

The Cork venue has proved to be an impregnable citadel for the Irish underage side with Noel McNamara’s charges beating the French and English there in 2019 en route to a Grand Slam while last year head coach Richie Murphy led Ireland to another Grand Slam, a campaign that included victories over Wales, Italy and Scotland in Cork.

That group also took part in an Under-20 summer series tournament in Italy, with a much depleted squad losing to South Africa and France but beating England and Scotland.

In the 2020 Six Nations Ireland beat Scotland and Wales at Musgrave Park and England at Franklin’s Gardens before the tournament was abandoned due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The Irish 20s squad will begin their preparations with a training camp in the high performance centre (HPC) next month and then play three games in the build-up.

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The traditional warm-up matches against a Leinster Development XV at Energia Park and Munster Development XV in Musgrave Park are likely to take place in December while Murphy’s squad will also play Italy.

Meanwhile Andy Farrell’s Ireland side will go into the upcoming November Test series as the number one side in the world, a status confirmed after the completion of the recent Rugby Championship won by New Zealand.

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Ireland (90.03) climbed to the top of the global rankings in July, taking over from France, after their history making 2-1 series victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand during the summer. It’s an achievement only once previously attained by an Irish side when Joe Schmidt’s squad managed a two-week stay at the summit of the world rankings in 2019.

Farrell’s Irish squad take on South Africa, Fiji and Australia at the Aviva Stadium in three Tests in November. France, who are unbeaten in 2022 have won a Grand Slam in this year’s Six Nations Championship for the first time in 12 years, also won both summer test matches in Japan.

The French will also play the Springboks, at the Stade de France, with Jacques Nienaber’s world champions getting the opportunity to play the number one and two ranked sides. New Zealand take on Wales, Scotland and Eddie Jones’ England side while an All Blacks Development XV will take on Ireland A at the RDS and the Barbarians at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Sunday, November 13th.

World ranking      Country             November 5th                        November 12th               November 19th

1                              Ireland               South Africa                  Fiji                          Australia

2                             France                Australia                        South Africa         Japan (20th)

3                             South Africa      Ireland                           France                   Italy

4                             New Zealand      Wales                            Scotland (13th)     England

5                             England               Argentina (6th)            Japan                     New Zealand

2023 Under-20 Six Nations Championship Ireland fixtures.

Friday, Feb 3rd: Wales v Ireland, tbc (7.00)

Friday, Feb 10th: Ireland v France, Musgrave Park (8.0)

Friday, Feb 24th: Italy v Ireland, tbc (7.15, Irish time)

Friday, March 10th: Scotland v Ireland, tbc (7.15)

Sunday, March 19th: Ireland v England, Musgrave Park (5.0)