Ireland Under-20 head coach Richie Murphy says his team can't get swept up in the excitement of this Sunday's Grand Slam decider against Scotland.
Ireland are heavy favourites to make it five wins from five and seal just a fourth underage Six Nations crown when they welcome winless Scotland to a sold-out Musgrave Park.
It would see them secure a second Grand Slam in three seasons at the U20 grade, while they had also won three games from three before the 2020 installment was abandoned due to the Covid-19 crisis.
While some members of Murphy's squad will go on and play for their provinces as well as Ireland, the reality of age-grade rugby means that for some, the chance of winning a Six Nations title will be the pinnacle of their careers.
Murphy says that's something he's been conscious of as they prepare for Scotland.
"There's no doubt, and some of that came up last week in relation to going over to play England," he said.
"Some lads were saying it might be the only chance you get to do this. I think it's in their mind, it’s not something we talk about too often.
"We try and deal just with the facts, being very clinical in terms of preparation, sticking with the process, knowing that if we deliver what we’ve delivered so far it’ll be good enough to get us over the line.
"We’re trying to not get caught up in the emotion of the thing. It’s all there, all in the background. It’s not something we ignore, but it’s not something we concentrate on."
Murphy (above) will name his team tomorrow for the game, with changes expected to be kept to a minimum after the impressive win in London last week.
While there have been two previous U20 Grand Slams for Ireland in 2019 and 2007 (at the time U21), this could be their first ever clean sweep when facing England and France away from home.
Murphy says that completing the slam after those away trips would be extra special.
"A lot of people are saying that, and it will be (extra special)," he added.
"That win in France, the manner of it as well really set us up well.
"Going into the first game against Wales, there were a couple of areas of our game we were worried about, but over the whole in the past couple of weeks we’ve seen the guys come on really well.
"Everything we talked about in France happened, which was great for the lads because I think they got great confidence in that, from the crowd and all those external factors, and then the game panned out similar to how we imagined it might, getting an opportunity late in the game. They were incredible the way they stuck to it.
"That really kicked them on, and the confidence in the group has grown. They’re driving their own agenda at this stage, we’re reminding them and keeping them on task, going back and trying to drive the things we started with.
"Our first camp was in October, the things we talked about in that very first camp when there were 50-odd players there, we talked about it yesterday in our review. It’s been a consistent message all the way through, and the guys have really bought into that."
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