Talented U20s primed for final tilt at title

FOR Richie Murphy’s class of 2024, the objective is simple: seal a bonus-point win against a poor Scotland side and sit back and hope that France do them a favour. The visitors, who are winless in this championship and shipped 40 points against Italy in Power game: Seán Edogbo is restored to the backrow the previous round, should be cannon fodder in Cork. Murphy’s crew will then sit back and see what unravels over in France, hoping that the hosts can derail England, who hold a slender onepoint lead at the summit of the standings heading into tonight’s final fixture. England will be ruing that late Irish fightback which secured a 32-32 draw in the previous round. If they slip up on French soil, then an Irish win will secure a third title in a row. Quite the achievement. These are heady times for the Ireland U20s. A team which has not lost a home game in this competition for six years. And with powerful flanker Sean Edogbo back in the pack, they will be targeting a big win in this championship finale. We’re in for a night of drama. It might not be enough on this occasion but this isn’t the last we’ve seen of some of these players. IRELAND U20: B O’Connor; F Treacy, W de Klerk, H Gavin, H McLaughlin; J Murphy, O Coffey; A Usanov, H Walker,

J Boyd; E O’Connell (capt), J Hopes; S Edogbo, B Ward, L Murphy. Reps: D Sheahan, B Howard, P Bell, B Corrigan, J McKillop, T Brophy, S Naughton, D Colbert. SCOTLAND U20: J Brown; F Doyle, J Ventisei, F Thomson, G Gwynn; I Coates, H Patterson; C Smyth, J BlythLafferty, C Norrie; E McVie, R Hart (capt); J Morris, F Douglas, T Currie. Reps: M Brogan, R Deans, R Whitefield, A Clarke, M Job, E Davey, A McLean, F Douglas. Referee: T Namekawa (Japan). TV: Kick-off at 7pm, Musgrave Park. LIVE on Virgin Media 2 from 6.30pm.