Ireland U20 coach Nigel Carolan has made four changes for tomorrow’s clash with New Zealand in their third and final Pool C game of the World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy.
Carolan’s charges overcame a spirited Scotland 24-20 on Saturday and in the wake of Ireland’s second narrow victory of the tournament Jack Owens makes his first appearance on the wing to partner Jacob Stockdale, who returns to the opening XV for the match in Viadana (kick off 7.30pm).
Up front, Zack McCall returns to the front row and Rory Moloney comes into in the back row.
Ireland, like New Zealand, have won both their Pool C games having edged past Argentina 18-16 in their opener, while New Zealand have beaten Scotland 68-10 and Argentina 32-29.
Speaking after naming his team, Carolan said: "This is a big game for both sides, the winner of this will have a guaranteed place in the semi-finals.
"New Zealand are a good team, so we will need to be brilliant for the full 80 minutes to give ourselves a chance.
"However, in preparation for a tough battle we have recovered well from our last outing and have identified some key areas which we hope we can take advantage of."
Ireland U20 (v New Zealand): Billy Dardis; Jack Owens, Garry Ringrose, Sam Arnold, Jacob Stockdale; Joey Carbery, Nick McCarthy; Andrew Porter, Zack McCall, Oisin Heffernan, David O'Connor, Alex Thompson; Josh Murphy, Rory Moloney, Lorcan Dow.
Replacements: Sean McNulty, Liam O'Connor, Conan O'Donnell, Cian Romaine, Stephen McVeigh, Charlie Rock, Tomás Quinlan, Fergal Cleary.
