IT’S ALWAYS A big day in the Ireland U20s’ calendar. The training session against the senior Six Nations team.
While it usually doesn’t involve full-on, no-holds-barred contact, there have been a few spicy sessions over the last few years when promising young forwards have got stuck into veteran professionals or exciting U20s backs have shown their skills by beating seasoned senior internationals.
Neil Doak’s Ireland U20s will train against Simon Easterby’s senior Ireland side later this week at the IRFU’s high performance centre, with both national teams gathering in Dublin for two-day training camps ahead of the first break weekend in their respective championships.
“Some of them have already trained with the senior guys in their provinces but to train against a national team is always a bit of a highlight of the 20s programme,” said Doak of the challenge ahead.
While Easterby’s men are bouncing off the back of two bonus-point wins against England and Scotland, the U20s made a slower start.
They were beaten 19-3 by the English in Cork in the opening round before improving in a 33-15 victory against Scotland last weekend.
Doak’s men came out of the blocks very impressively in Edinburgh, nothing the bonus point as early as the 22nd minute with a flurry of superb attack. Ireland struck clinically from lineouts for all four of those early scores with wing Charlie Molony bagging a hat-trick and lock Billy Corrigan grabbing the other.
Doak was delighted with how his players nailed the detail they had worked on in the build-up.
“The first 20 or 25 minutes, I was really happy with it,” he said.
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“You could see the smiles on the boys’ faces and things were working out. Then it sort of became a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the rest of the game.”
Ireland were frustrated with some of their carrying, kicking, and errors but they added a fifth try through replacement back row Oisin Minogue – nephew of the late Anthony Foley – and Doak was pleased his side bounced back from the defeat to England.
Second row Billy Corrigan was among the tries in Edinburgh. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Ireland had plenty of good territory that night in Cork but missed chances. Doak wondered if his players “maybe showed a little bit too much respect” to an England side that included lots of big names.
“They’ve just got to have a little bit of belief that they can play a bit of rugby,” said Doak as his men now look towards a clash against Wales on Friday 21 February at Rodney Parade in Newport.
Injuries have made life more challenging for Ireland. They’re missing tighthead prop Niall Smyth, second row Alan Spicer, number eight Luke Murphy, and fullback Todd Lawlor, while loosehead prop Alex Usanov suffered a Six Nations-ending hamstring injury against England.
All of them would be starters, with Spicer, Murphy, and Usanov having played for the U20s last season. Usanov even impressed on the Emerging Ireland tour earlier this season, while Murphy, Smyth, and the 6ft 10ins Spicer also offer power.
Other talented players like centre Evan Moynihan and loosehead prop Emmet Calvey – another who featured last season – were injured ahead of the Six Nations, while wing Derry Moloney broke a finger against England.
Throw in the fact that talented out-half Caspar Gabriel, a native of Austria, was deemed ineligible for this U20s season and they’re missing many faces who would have been heavily involved.
Ireland could have some of the injured big guns back for the closing stages of this Six Nations but their options should be much stronger for this summer’s World Rugby U20 Championship, which could take place in Italy.
Doak is pleased with how the squad he’s working with are improving. He pointed to fullback/out-half Daniel Green and tighthead prop Alex Mullan as standouts against the Scots.
Combative flanker Michael Foy has also impressed in the opening two games, centre Connor Fahy has shown his power, while second row Billy Corrigan has returned from last season’s set-up to lead the way.
Ireland U20s boss Neil Doak. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
The Irish U20s coaching team includes scrum expert Seamus Toomey and forwards coach Andrew Browne, while Doak and Ian Keatley work together on the attack.
“We try to evolve and develop their understanding of the game,” said Doak of their approach.
“Not just run systems but to actually understand systems on both sides of the ball so that in the heat of battle, they can keep calm, problem-solve, and come up with answers themselves. That’s the key for this U20 programme.
“Yes, it’s about performance too and we want to win like every coach but it’s also developing the depth of our player base and giving a really good understanding so they can go back to their clubs and understand why things are happening in their games.”
Doak has been involved in player development for decades now and though he has also been heavily involved at senior professional level with Ulster, Ireland, Emerging Ireland, Worcester, and Georgia, he thoroughly enjoys working with young players.
“I love it,” he said. “I started working for the IRFU as a development officer in 1994 so I’ve been fortunate enough to coach numerous age-grade provincial teams, the seniors, up the pipeline of every national team as well. I love it.
“The biggest thing for me is if we can get a few more guys into the provincial set-ups and they go on to make their senior debuts.
“It’s class as a coach to play a small part in their development and see that success. And even better if some of them decide to take up coaching down the line. But they might want to have a few screws loose!”
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Ireland U20s to train against Easterby's Six Nations side this week
IT’S ALWAYS A big day in the Ireland U20s’ calendar. The training session against the senior Six Nations team.
While it usually doesn’t involve full-on, no-holds-barred contact, there have been a few spicy sessions over the last few years when promising young forwards have got stuck into veteran professionals or exciting U20s backs have shown their skills by beating seasoned senior internationals.
Neil Doak’s Ireland U20s will train against Simon Easterby’s senior Ireland side later this week at the IRFU’s high performance centre, with both national teams gathering in Dublin for two-day training camps ahead of the first break weekend in their respective championships.
“Some of them have already trained with the senior guys in their provinces but to train against a national team is always a bit of a highlight of the 20s programme,” said Doak of the challenge ahead.
While Easterby’s men are bouncing off the back of two bonus-point wins against England and Scotland, the U20s made a slower start.
They were beaten 19-3 by the English in Cork in the opening round before improving in a 33-15 victory against Scotland last weekend.
Doak’s men came out of the blocks very impressively in Edinburgh, nothing the bonus point as early as the 22nd minute with a flurry of superb attack. Ireland struck clinically from lineouts for all four of those early scores with wing Charlie Molony bagging a hat-trick and lock Billy Corrigan grabbing the other.
Doak was delighted with how his players nailed the detail they had worked on in the build-up.
“The first 20 or 25 minutes, I was really happy with it,” he said.
“You could see the smiles on the boys’ faces and things were working out. Then it sort of became a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the rest of the game.”
Ireland were frustrated with some of their carrying, kicking, and errors but they added a fifth try through replacement back row Oisin Minogue – nephew of the late Anthony Foley – and Doak was pleased his side bounced back from the defeat to England.
Ireland had plenty of good territory that night in Cork but missed chances. Doak wondered if his players “maybe showed a little bit too much respect” to an England side that included lots of big names.
“They’ve just got to have a little bit of belief that they can play a bit of rugby,” said Doak as his men now look towards a clash against Wales on Friday 21 February at Rodney Parade in Newport.
Injuries have made life more challenging for Ireland. They’re missing tighthead prop Niall Smyth, second row Alan Spicer, number eight Luke Murphy, and fullback Todd Lawlor, while loosehead prop Alex Usanov suffered a Six Nations-ending hamstring injury against England.
All of them would be starters, with Spicer, Murphy, and Usanov having played for the U20s last season. Usanov even impressed on the Emerging Ireland tour earlier this season, while Murphy, Smyth, and the 6ft 10ins Spicer also offer power.
Other talented players like centre Evan Moynihan and loosehead prop Emmet Calvey – another who featured last season – were injured ahead of the Six Nations, while wing Derry Moloney broke a finger against England.
Throw in the fact that talented out-half Caspar Gabriel, a native of Austria, was deemed ineligible for this U20s season and they’re missing many faces who would have been heavily involved.
Ireland could have some of the injured big guns back for the closing stages of this Six Nations but their options should be much stronger for this summer’s World Rugby U20 Championship, which could take place in Italy.
Doak is pleased with how the squad he’s working with are improving. He pointed to fullback/out-half Daniel Green and tighthead prop Alex Mullan as standouts against the Scots.
Combative flanker Michael Foy has also impressed in the opening two games, centre Connor Fahy has shown his power, while second row Billy Corrigan has returned from last season’s set-up to lead the way.
The Irish U20s coaching team includes scrum expert Seamus Toomey and forwards coach Andrew Browne, while Doak and Ian Keatley work together on the attack.
“We try to evolve and develop their understanding of the game,” said Doak of their approach.
“Not just run systems but to actually understand systems on both sides of the ball so that in the heat of battle, they can keep calm, problem-solve, and come up with answers themselves. That’s the key for this U20 programme.
“Yes, it’s about performance too and we want to win like every coach but it’s also developing the depth of our player base and giving a really good understanding so they can go back to their clubs and understand why things are happening in their games.”
Doak has been involved in player development for decades now and though he has also been heavily involved at senior professional level with Ulster, Ireland, Emerging Ireland, Worcester, and Georgia, he thoroughly enjoys working with young players.
“I love it,” he said. “I started working for the IRFU as a development officer in 1994 so I’ve been fortunate enough to coach numerous age-grade provincial teams, the seniors, up the pipeline of every national team as well. I love it.
“The biggest thing for me is if we can get a few more guys into the provincial set-ups and they go on to make their senior debuts.
“It’s class as a coach to play a small part in their development and see that success. And even better if some of them decide to take up coaching down the line. But they might want to have a few screws loose!”
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