Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Noel luck for Irish supremo
IRELAND coach Noel Mcnamara may have to bring in extra players amid fears two of his squad may play no further part in the World Rugby U-20 Championship in
France.
Mcnamara and his management are sweating on medical updates but there are fears they could lose loosehead prop James French and debutant winger Dan Hurley.
And lock Matthew Dalton is doubtful for Sunday’s clash against South Africa where Ireland will be hoping to bounce back from the opening night 26-24 loss to France.
South Africa were pushed all the way by Georgia before winning their opening game 33-27 and Mcnamara knows this will be another searching test for his squad.
But he is refusing to use injuries an excuse.
Mcnamara said: “It’s part and parcel unfortunately. It may present an opportunity for somebody else and that’s what it is about really. It is an opportunity for these young men to come out here and show what they can do.
“And we would certainly feel that a lot of them did that against France.
“There were players who didn’t get an opportunity against France. There will be an opportunity to freshen things up.”
He added: “It’s really important that we recover well. We are not going to get an awful lot of work done on the pitch over the course of the next few days.
“It’s about recovering well mentally as well as physically and ensuring that we learn from some of the things that we didn’t do well against France.”