England on a mission to wreck Irish party
IRELAND have the chance to become the first U20s side to win back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams in tournament history when they host England at a sold-out Musgrave Park.
The Irish have been in scintillating form, registering 19 points out of a possible 20 and scoring 26 tries in their four wins.
Richie Murphy’s side opened with a comfortable win over Wales before a dramatic 33-31 win over France. From there, a victory over Italy and last week’s record 82-7 thumping of Scotland in Glasgow has set up the chance at history.
“We’re not looking to go for a draw and still win the Championship, we really are going for the Grand Slam and I think we are good enough, if we perform well and go like the way we believe we can,” said Ireland captain Gus McCarthy.
“Although it’s for the Grand Slam, it’s just a normal game of rugby, so we just need to try and put our best foot forward. Hopefully things will fall into place and we will get the win.”
Leading from the front all competition has been mercurial fly-half Sam Prendergast. In line to win player of the tournament, the 20-year-old is the leading scorer in this year’s campaign with 63 points, nearly double the amount of the next closest player.
The Leinster playmaker has barely put a foot wrong for the entirety of the tournament and has drawn flattering comparisons to Johnny Sexton as a result.
Murphy has opted to make just three changes from last week’s record win. After not featuring in Scotland, James Nicholson moves straight into the 14 jersey with Andrew Osborne dropping to the bench.
Leinster duo Paddy McCarthy and Diarmuid Mangan are also promoted into the starting side at tighthead prop and lock respectively.
Having not dropped a point in their opening three rounds, last week’s 42-7 loss to France sent England’s chances of setting up a famous Grand Slam decider this weekend crashing down.
However, Alan Dickens’
side will be determined to not only spoil the party but put pressure on France as they boast an outside shot of winning the title.
If England win in Cork, prevent Ireland from getting a bonus-point in the process and France fail to beat Wales, they will be crowned champions.
Dickens insists his side can’t afford to dwell on last week’s humiliation and must rise up to match their opponents.
He said: “This is a tight squad of players which has regrouped and is focused on facing Ireland.
“In camp this week the players’ attention has been on the core skills and values, including taking the opportunity to improve at any given chance, that saw us open our campaign so well.
“For Sunday’s fixture, we’ve selected a team that we think can meet the challenge that Ireland brings – they carry hard, play well off a talented fly-half, and with a quality goal kicker, they can punish mistakes from anywhere on the pitch.”
Five changes have been made to the starting side from last week with the return of some key members.
In the pack, Afolabi Fasogbon starts at tighthead and Danny Eite comes back into the fold to join captain Lewis Chessum at lock.
The most notable change is the return of London Irish powerhouse Chandler Cunningham-South at No.8, he’ll shoulder the responsibility of getting England over the gainline against a monstrous Irish pack.
Out wide, Harlequins winger Cassius Cleaves makes his first start of 2023 with Josh Hathaway dropping out of the squad whilst Joseph Woodward returns to reignite his centre partnership with Rekeiti Ma’asi-White.