Irish Under-20s to train with full Irish team as part of preparations

The Irish Under-20 team will train alongside the full Irish side as part of their warm-up for the Six Nations Championship this year. The training session will take place in the Aviva stadium on January 30th, which the IRFU have indicated will be open to the public.

As part of a training session the teams will line out just days before their opening games. The Under 20s face Italy in their first match on Friday February 6th.

The Under-20s have already played in two warm-up matches against Leinster and Munster development teams, losing to Munster and beating Leinster.

The side will also play in Dublin for the first time in 10 years. The traditional venue for age grade games has been in Dubarry Park, Athlone, where Ireland also meet France in February. But the home game against England is scheduled for Donnybrook, which is the first Under-20 match in Dublin since 2005.

There is already some expectation on the shoulders of the talented young side that came fourth in the 2014 World Cup.

Eight players named have previous Six Nations experience from last year and include Harrison Brewer, Ross Byrne, Jack Cullen, Oisin Heffernan, Nick McCarthy, Sean McNulty, Rory Moloney and Garry Ringrose. A further three played in the 2014 World Junior Cup, Billy Dardis, Ciaran Gaffney and Josh Murphy. The side will be captained by Nick McCarthy.

“The squad sees a great mixture of new faces and those with experience at this level from last season. We have been really impressed by the attitude of the players, both on and off the field,” said Nigel Carolan, who is Head Coach for the first time.