BEFORE THE SENIOR men made history by beating the All Blacks in Chicago, their young counterparts paved the way with a stunning win over New Zealand U20 in Manchester.
Led by James Ryan, a side who took a little time to hit their straps in the Six Nations ultimately proved a force to be reckoned with as they powered their way to the World Rugby U20 Championship final just over four years ago this week.
How much do you remember about a sensational summer for Nigel Carolan’s side?
Ireland opened the campaign with a win over which side who had just captured an U20 Grand Slam three months prior?
France
England
Wales
Scotland
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Who was Ireland's starting out-half as the competition kicked-off?
Johnny McPhillips
Ross Byrne
Bill Johnston
Conor Dean
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Which of these established pros was not a part of Nigel Carolan's squad for the tournament?
Paul Boyle
Greg Jones
Will Connors
Hugo Keenan
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Less than a year later James Ryan played his first match as a senior professional, against which opposition?
Leicester Tigers
Dragons
Japan
USA
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How many tries did Jacob Stockdale score in the tournament?
One
Two
Three
Four
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Which of these senior internationals missed out on the squad due to injury?
Jordan Larmour
Sam Arnold
Caelan Doris
Joey Carbery
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By how many points did Ireland beat New Zealand in their momentous pool-stage victory?
Five
Nine
13
15
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How many current senior Ireland internationals started for both the landmark win over New Zealand and the final?
Two
Three
Four
Five
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Jordie Barrett scored the first try of the day, but which of these men didn't cross for Ireland in that famous win over New Zealand?
Andrew Porter
Max Deegan
Greg Jones
Adam McBurney
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After trouncing Argentina in the semi-finals, Ireland suffered a heavy defeat to what team in the final?
England
New Zealand
South Africa
France
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You scored out of !
Sweet 2016
You didn't give a fiddler's about the Euros. You were bet into the World Rugby Junior World Championship - and fair play to ya.
You scored out of !
Not your summer
Listen, 20s isn't for everyone. And you might still grind out a slowburning career without starring here.
You scored out of !
Sure lookit
Sure it was decent craic while it lasted
Excellent analysis of all the pieces of the jigsaw of moves leading to great tries
Great analysis as always. What an atmosphere yesterday. Delighted for Sexton and Healy!!! What a Six Nations send off
@Kenneth O Connor: Healy not getting a run was disappointing and strange
@Noel Lynn: He did… only about 4 minutes but he did play.
Yesterday(and last week) should put to bed any doubt about Conan’s value. Every bit as effective as Doris imo.
@Gary Donlan: doris level ahead
@Gary Donlan: I’m a big, big fan of Conan – he’s an outstanding player – but I’d have to acknowledge that Doris is at the very top of the global tree. And he has so much more to grow, being so young. Arguably a future World Player of the Year nominee, if not winner.
I see lots of people saying how England really used line speed yesterday to get in Irelands face, that’s not what happened at all. England played a soft drift defence, not putting too much pressure on the first carrier / passer, and not committing too many men to the breakdown, opting to be more disruptive and messy rather than look for turnovers. It was an interesting tactic and one that threw a lot of the Irish players off, particularly Furlong who takes the first pivot option quite often. Ireland will need to learn how to adapt to it by World Cup, I can’t imagine South Africa or France would try it, they would trust their line speed, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Scotland or even New Zealand thought about using it.
Great analysis there. It shows really how intelligent this group are. Dorris, JVF,, Aki, Sexton, Hansen running subplots and dummies lines and how they build a try 3 phases out. To have so many on the same page is extraordinary and as Farrell said, they will get a lot better over the next few months with more time collectively in camp.
Roll on the WC
It was squeaky bum time for much of the game. England gave it everything. Ireland found a way to win. Work done with decoy runners is magnificent. Enjoy, upwards and onwards to France
That was some offload by Conan for sheehans try.
Sheehan is a pure speed merchant
@Gary Galligan: He’s a 4×4 at full speed.
On the strike plays which Ireland use we have seen a few of these in this 6 nations I believe they have only used a small number of these in this 6 nations and there are many more which they had no need to use and they are been reserved for the later stages of the world Cup.
I would imagine when Farrell and his team review this game they will be a little concerned. Obviously the short term gain here, winning a grand slam, is brilliant. But there was a lot of pressure going into the game and we did not handle it well. Ultimately a red card may have won it for Ireland and whether you agree or disagree with the card the nature of it shows it can how easily happen under current rules. (There was at least 1 red card possibility for us that was missed by the ref and TMO). This team will ultimately be judged on how it performs in the World Cup. When they meet Scotland on the 7th of October it will more than likely be a knock out game. The pressure on them will easily be as intense as yesterday, probably more so. They will need to be a lot better. If we don’t make it out of the group, this Grand Slam will lose a lot of it’s shine. Of course hopefully by the time we meet Scotland SA will have 2 losses so it won’t matter :)
@Pud: OTOH, the experience of yesterday, a real pressure cooker, will stand to them. Plus, those guys played a lot of intense rugby over a short period of time. Some were definitely not at their best, following injuries (Furlong, for example, looked rusty; Henshaw wasn’t fully up to speed; Ringrose in and out). Farrell took some risks, playing guys like Porter, VDF, Keenan, Hansen and others to their limits (Keenan looked tired yesterday, as did others). The player management plan for the RWC needs to cater for the interactive effects of physical endurance and how it affects mental/emotional resilience. I’m pretty confident they’re on top of that. And again, all the players will be better for the experience of this 6N.
@Pud: South Africa then Scotland…followed by France or New Zealand…three massive banana skins….I don’t think if we are stopped before semi final, yesterday’s outstanding achievement will be diminished….cruel world cup draw.
Herring sealed victory over the All Blacks with a similar try in the third test .. hooker is definitely a position we don’t need to worry about… bench again made the difference yesterday
Murray Kinsella, single handedly helping other teams work out Ireland!!