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King drafted in for Under-20 Grand Slam decider

King scored two tries in last week's memorable win against England
King scored two tries in last week's memorable win against England

Aitzol King has been rewarded for his brace of tries against England with a starting berth in Sunday's Under-20 Six Nations Grand Slam decider against Scotland.

The Balbriggan man starred off the bench in last week's 42-27 win in London, and comes onto the right wing in the only change to Richie Murphy's side.

King takes the place of Bristol's Chay Mullins who drops to the bench, and joins Fionn Gibbons and Patrick Campbell in the back three.

The all-Banbridge pairing of Ben Carson and Jude Postlethwaite continue in the centre, while Connacht's Matthew Devine and Leinster's Charlie Tector start in the half-backs.

The forward pack remains as it was, with Ulster's hooker James McCormick flanked by Leinster props Jack Boyle and Rory McGuire.

Conor O'Tighernaigh and Mark Morrissey start in the second row together for the fifth game in a row, while Reuben Crothers captains the side from openside flanker, along with Lorcan McLoughlin and James Culhane.

A win for Ireland at a sold-out Musgrave Park would see them claim just a fourth underage Six Nations title, while it would also mark a second Grand Slam in the last three runnings of the championship.

Head coach Murphy said: "We are really excited about the prospect of finishing the Championship in front of a sold-out home crowd in Cork. The group have grown remarkably over the last couple of months and we go into Sunday's game knowing what's at stake for us.

"This week has been all about sticking to our processes, putting the head down and preparing as well as we can for what will hopefully be our best performance of the Six Nations.

"The players have remained really focused and we know if we can nail our work, we will give ourselves the best possible opportunity of overcoming the final hurdle."


Ireland U20s: Patrick Campbell (Young Munster RFC/Munster); Aitzol King (Clontarf FC/Leinster, Jude Postlethwaite (Banbridge RFC/Ulster), Ben Carson (Banbridge RFC/Ulster), Fionn Gibbons (UCD RFC/Leinster); Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster), Matthew Devine (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht); Jack Boyle (UCD RFC/Leinster), James McCormick (Ballymena RFC/Ulster), Rory McGuire (UCD RFC/Leinster); Conor O'Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster), Mark Morrissey (UCD RFC/Leinster); Lorcan McLoughlin (Queen's University Belfast RFC/Ulster), Reuben Crothers (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster) (capt), James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster).

Replacements: Josh Hanlon (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster); Oisin Michel (Lansdowne FC/Leinster), Scott Wilson (Queen's University Belfast/Ulster), James McNabney (Ballymena RFC/Ulster), Diarmuid Mangan (UCD RFC/Leinster), Ethan Coughlan (Shannon RFC/Munster), Tony Butler (Garryowen FC/Munster), Chay Mullins (Bristol Bears/IQ Rugby)

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Watch live coverage of Lions v Munster (12pm), Wales v Italy (2.15pm) and France v England (8pm) this Saturday, 19 March on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.

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