U20 Six Nations: Ireland should outlast Scotland but title hopes remain out of their hands

U20 Six Nations: Ireland v Scotland, Musgrave Park, Friday, 7pm – Live on Virgin Media

Ireland will strip bare the peripheral distractions of this match to concentrate on winning a game of rugby that, depending on circumstances, may allow them to win a third successive Under-20 Six Nations Championship.

A 32-32 draw against England in Bath last weekend removed a hat-trick of Grand Slams from the agenda but they are nevertheless still hoping to chase down the one-point advantage and an inferior points differential (17 behind) to move past an English side that will know what they must do to win the tournament, as their game in France kicks off an hour after the one in Cork.

A four-try, bonus-point victory would simplify the mathematical permutations, but Ireland can’t afford to be careless in performance terms. Scotland may have lost all four matches in the tournament but within those games they have shown a capacity to play good rugby, albeit not for 80 minutes.

They led Italy 14-7 at half-time last time out before conceding 40 second-half points without scoring. On another occasion they were 26-0 down to France at half-time but managed to score more second-half points (14-3) than their opponents.

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Scotland head coach Kenny Murray has made wholesale changes from the Italy match, some due to injury in the case of secondrow Ryan Burke and Fergus Watson, while Jack Hocking, Gavin Parry, Luke Coulston, Murdoch Lock and Matthew Urwin are rested. Jack Brown will make his debut from fullback while Marcus Brogan, Andrew McLean and Finn Douglas are also set to win their first caps off the bench.

Seán Edogbo and Henry Walker are restored to the Irish starting team while Joe Hopes reverts to secondrow in place of Alan Spicer, who had an excellent game against England.

[ Walker and Edogbo return to the starting XV as Ireland U20 chase Six Nations glory ]

It is Richie Murphy’s final game before he takes over as interim coach in Ulster for the rest of the season. The squad will be hoping to have their head coach back for the World Junior Championship in Cape Town during the summer.

The group have coped well in the absence of high-profile absentees like Brian Gleeson, injured against France, and centre Sam Berman, who only recently resumed playing with Terenure College.

Other players have stood up and one of those is openside flanker Bryn Ward, although it’s hardly a surprise when considering his family gene pool. His New Zealand-born father Andy won 28 caps for Ireland and was a member of Ulster’s European Cup winning team in 1999, while his brother Zac is a standout player with the Ireland Sevens team.

There’s no shortage of advice around the Ward dinner table. Bryn smiled: “All the family give you advice, but I am really close to my brother. [Zac] going to the Sevens, making that change from 15s, he’s been giving me a lot of advice and tips around how to cope with a lot of things inside and outside the game.”

Bryn conceded that his brother would be fitter given the requirement for Sevens, but it is an aspect of preparation that the youngest Ward sibling has been encouraged to focus on. “I read Richie McCaw’s book; he [dad] told me to read that when I was younger. The first thing he said was his dad told him that the fitter you are the more you will enjoy the game.

“That was the main thing for me was just trying to be as fit as you can. You definitely need it in the last 20 minutes.” So how would he sum up his style of play? “I’d say I’d describe myself as a dynamic ball carrier who can make his tackles and get the odd turnover as well.”

Ward will need to be attuned to that part of the game because he’ll be up against Scottish openside flanker Freddie Douglas, who has won more turnovers than anyone else in the tournament.

Ireland’s backline is unchanged for the fifth straight match and as they have demonstrated on multiple occasions, they possess the individual and collective ability to cut open sides, especially when Jack Murphy is in his pomp at outhalf. The work-on from the England game is to take more of the chances they have created.

The game has been sold out for a couple of weeks and given what has become a special and cherished atmosphere in Cork, Ireland are expected to deliver a winning display, and will then have to wait to take in what happens in Stade du Hameau in Pau.

IRELAND UNDER-20: B O’Connor (UCC); F Treacy (Galwegians), W de Klerk (UCD), H Gavin (Galwegians), H McLaughlin (Lansdowne); J Murphy (Clontarf), O Coffey (Blackrock College); A Usanov (Clontarf), H Walker (QUB), J Boyd (QUB); E O’Connell (UL Bohemian, capt), J Hopes (QUB); S Edogbo (UCC), B Ward (Ballynahinch), L Murphy (Shannon).

Replacements: D Sheahan (Cork Constitution), B Howard (Terenure College), P Bell (Sale Sharks), B Corrigan (Old Wesley), J McKillop (QUB), S Edogbo (UCC), T Brophy (Naas), S Naughton (Galway Corinthians), D Colbert (Dublin University).

SCOTLAND: J Brown; F Doyle, J Ventisei, F Thomson, G Gwynn (co-capt); I Coates, H Patterson; C Smyth, J Blyth-Lafferty, C Norrie; E McVie, R Hart (co-capt); J Morris, F Douglas, T Currie.

Replacements: M Brogan, R Deans, R Whitefield, A Clarke, M Job, E Davey, A McLean, F Douglas.

Referee: Takahito Namekawa (Japan).