JWC 2011: Wrap Up

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New Zealand celebrate another U20 Junior World Championship win.

Ireland U20’s finished the tournament in 8th place after going into the tournament with realistic expectations of a top 6 finish. It was a disappointing end to the tournament but overall I would regard this tournament as a success for the Ireland team who have gained invaluable experience in the high pressure and big hitting world of international rugby.

The key concern before the tournament was how the scrum was going to cope with the English and South African packs, so the scrum has to be the real bonus for Ireland with Tadhg Furlong, Niall Annett and James Tracy superb throughout, even if they were out on their feet by the end of the tournament. Excellent technique displayed throughout by the young front row.

The backs looked useful when they got the . . .

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3 responses to “JWC 2011: Wrap Up”

  1. the mote

    If 60% of this years squad make professional rugby it is very unlikely that 60% of the next squad will if you get the drift .

    The leinster squad and match day XV has been relatively static for three years Munster have a similiar record

    Iin a normal season only 4-5-6 players out of the 35-40 in a squad are released at u20 level there are a large number who don’t get squad contracts

    But it is necessary to have fairly large numbers at U18 -u19 u20 levels to identify those who will make the grade and develop as players because school rugby can be a misleading indicator due to the varying rates of maturity ie some schoolboys look about 20 years old and are playing against others who look about 16 and therefore good but when faced with a player of a similiar maturity his performance is nothing special.

  2. the mote

    While experienced is gained and I’m sure the lads enjoy the social aspects of the tournament as well, the truth is that of the 30 odd who make the trip only ,on average , about 5 maybe 6 make it through to the professional game . The other factor is that while Ireland can put together a team to play an International game at this age level it is more difficult to maintain a squad to compete in a tournament and play 5 or 6 matches in 2/3 weeks.

    The other factor is the timing of the tournament many of the players are at University and will have to take work to pay for their education which reduces the time available for training both individually and as a group never mind the fact that their exams could be at the same time as the tournament.

    The realities of life make dreams hard to realise.

    1. John

      You’re living in the past mote!

      Eight or nine of the Ireland squad have already played Magners League (as was) and I’d recon at least 60% will make it to professional status either in Ireland or elsewhere over the next three years with 6 or 7 going all the way as long term internationals.

      Believe you me there is not much of a social aspect with 5 games in 16 days it’s game, recover, training, game for these young professional sportsmen.

      The Irish lads did very well in my opinion, sure they had a few problems with their reaction times compared to the very best, but they are not that far off the pace and they need high calibre games like this.

      Watching these young athletes up close gives a better appreciation of the standard and these matches were as fast and as keenly fought as any Heineken Cup game that Ulster have been involved in over the last 12 years, the only thing lacking is the brute strength that comes with age.

      University has little or no impact on training as the modern rugby player fits his studies round his training schedule, not the other way round and all with the full blessing of the University. The main reason that this Ireland side didn’t get together as often as it should have is because so many of the Ulster and Leinster players were involved in Magners League squads.

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