Ireland head coach Neil Doak has vowed to play rugby that “excites players and spectators” after naming his squad for the Under-20 Six Nations.
Doak, who is coaching his first Six Nations, is looking to build on Ireland’s extraordinary run in the competition after back-to-back Grand Slams followed by a second-placed finish in 2024, despite winning four games and drawing one against England, losing out on bonus points.
“Ultimately, as a coach, you have to understand the players,” said the former Ulster player.
“There is no point asking players to do things that they’re not really comfortable with, and so we’ll adjust as we go along.
“We’ll obviously look at the other teams and see where we can exploit some avenues, but from my point of view, I want to play a brand of rugby that excites the players and excites spectators.
“We also know that we want to be successful as well. And what we’ve got to try and do as coaching staff and as management is help the players be really good problem-solvers, give them scenarios, give them a framework that they can sort of build things off, make good decisions.”
Ireland host England in Cork on Thursday, January 30, and Doak is not worried about the short turnaround with just over two weeks until the opening game.
“It’s a short window to try and prepare a team and put it together, so there’s a decent bit of work that has to go into it beforehand,” Doak added.
“Hugely positive win against Italy pre-Christmas and played Leinster (Development XV) last Saturday. The boys did well with the chopping and changing, which is always difficult. But the players have done very well over the three camps.
“I think in the Italy game, we scored two or three tries which took us away, but I was hugely impressed with the way that the second-half team in the Leinster development match dealt with it.
“Difficult conditions, a bit of drizzle, it wasn’t as fluid as we had hoped it would be and I thought we showed great character, got into the right areas of the field and we delivered a few times and sort of just kept us in front.
“It stands us in good stead, especially the back end of the games, that we can deliver points.
“I was hugely pleased with that 40 minutes.”
Connacht Academy player Éanna McCarthy was named captain, and with the Cork-born back-row featuring alongside five returning players from the 2024 edition of the competition, it gives Doak a great leadership group for the tournament.
“When we put the squad and the management together and tried to build what we were about, for me, I’m a bit more action-orientated,” Doak explained.
“Last week, Éanna was physical, he was direct and we’re going to need that against England first up.
“I think if you look at England, they’ve maybe nine or 10 back from that World Cup-winning squad.
“For us, that exposure and experience, I think that was good leading into the World Cup last year. The returning players were able to sit in front of the rest of the squad and just give them an insight of what South Africa was going to be like.
“That experience stood us in good stead.”
IRELAND UNDER-20 SQUAD:
Forwards (17):Billy Bohan (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht); Billy Corrigan (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster); Michael Foy (UCC RFC/Munster); Conor Kennelly (Highfield RFC/Munster); Connor Magee (Banbridge RFC/Ulster); Tom McAllister (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster); Éanna McCarthy (Galwegians RFC/Connacht) (capt); Alex Mullan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster); Aaron O’Brien (St Mary’s College RFC/Leinster); Bobby Power (Galwegians RFC/Connacht); Mahon Ronan (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster); Alan Spicer (UCD RFC/Leinster); Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster); Henry Walker (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster); David Walsh (Terenure College RFC/Leinster); Adam Watchorn (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster); Mikey Yarr (UCD RFC/Leinster).
Backs (14): Andrew Doyle (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster); Connor Fahy (Clontarf FC/Leinster); Paidi Farrell (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster); Daniel Green (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster); Dylan Hicks (Garryowen FC/Munster); Gene O’Leary Kareem (UCC RFC/Munster); Clark Logan (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster); Ciarán Mangan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster); Derry Moloney (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster); Charlie Molony (UCD RFC/Leinster); Andre Ryan (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster); Eoghan Smyth (Cork Constitution FC/Munster); Sam Wisniewski (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster); Will Wootton (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby).