2016 U20 WRC: The History Boys.

Win, lose or draw tomorrow, this group of Ireland U20’s players have already made history, being the first Irish side to make the final of this Championship and to be honest they have done it in fine style scoring fourteen tries along the way. 

You can read the full match reports and view stacks of pictures by clicking the links below but please read on to see which of the youngsters have been shaking it up on the world stage. 

• Match 1:  Ireland 26 – 25 Wales 
• Match 2: Ireland 33 – 24 New Zealand 
• Match 3: Ireland 35 – 7 Georgia
• Match 4:  Ireland 37 – 7 Argentina

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Stalwards

Twelve players have played in all four games to date with Hugo Keenan, Max Deegan, Greg Jones and Andrew Porter all averaging over 65 minutes per game.

This is particularly impressive for front rower Porter who has literally been the cornerstone of the Irish scrum throughout the tournament and has laid down the foundations of Ireland’s success. 

However, it’s Keenan that tops the table with the silky smooth runner playing 316 minutes, averaging 79 minutes per game. A huge testament to his effortless technique in this particularly abrasive competition. 

Finishers

There have been nine different try scorers with the forwards bagging six to the backs eight.

Special mention to back row Max Deegan and hooker Adam McBurney who have grabbed a brace each but the top performer in this category is Ulster’s Jacob Stockdale who has crossed for four tries so far, scoring two against Wales and two against Argentina. 

The constant threat of Stockdale’s attacking prowess from full back has had more than one team worrying about their kicking game.

Kickers. 

The real bonus for this Irish team is that the kickers have kept the scoreboard ticking over with the Ireland having the best kicking stats in the competition averaging an 85% success rate. 

Bill Johnston set the standard of 78%, before having to retire from the competition due to injury, but Ulster’s Johnny McPhillips has pushed it on some and personally averages 88%, only missing two kicks from his sixteen attempts. With a try as well to add to the pot, McPhillips is Ireland’s leading scorer with 41 points. 

Special mention to Brett Connon, who came in for the injured Johnston and has a 100% record from his two attempts at goal! 

Overall Statistics

Ireland have used thirty players throughout the tournament, having suffered two injuries to their twenty-eight man squad. Out half Johnston was injured against New Zealand and was replaced by Connon but most unfortunate was Conor Kenny who got injured five minutes into the first match against Wales. Kenny was replaced by Adam Coyle.

There have been two yellow cards issued against Ireland, hookers McBurney (New Zealand) and Vincent O’Brien (Argentina) the guilty parties. 

Full stats per player below:  

Ireland U20 Player Stats

PLAYER	WAL	NZ	GEO	ARG	TOT	TRY	CON	PEN	DG	PTS
Hugo Keenan	76	80	80	80	316	1				5
Max Deegan	80	80	63	80	303	2				10
Greg Jones	80	80	65	72	297	1				5
Andrew Porter	80	80	31	72	263	1				5
Jacob Stockdale	80	80	15	80	255	4				20
Shane Daly	80	80	15	80	255	1				5
Matthew Byrne	80	80	–	80	240					0
Stephen Kerins	80	80	7	71	238					0
James Ryan	80	80	–	72	232					0
Ben Betts	75	62	–	71	208					0
David Aspil	69	55	–	80	204					0
Adam McBurney	76	53	7	64	200	2				10
Conor O’Brien	80	56	–	60	196					0
Johnny McPhillips	0	43	65	71	179	1	6	8		41
Cillian Gallagher	80	76	15	–	171					0
Sean O’Connor	0	4	80	80	164					0
Vincent O’Brien	4	26	80	14	124					0
Bill Johnston	80	37	X	X	117		3	4	1	21
Jimmy O’Brien	4	24	65	20	113					0
Brett Connon	–	–	80	9	89		2			4
Evan Mintern	–	–	80	8	88					0
Niall Saunders	0	0	73	9	82					0
Terry Kennedy	–	–	80	–	80	1				5
Paul Kiernan	–	–	80	–	80					0
Connal Boomer	–	–	73	–	73					0
Vakh Abdaladze	0	18	49	–	67					0
James Bollard	–	–	49	8	57					0
Kelvin Brown	11	16	17	8	52					0
Adam Coyle	–	–	31	9	40					0
Conor Kenny	5	X	X	X	5					0
Totals	1200	1190	1200	1198	4788	14	11	12	1	131

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