British & Irish Lions
• British & Irish Lions tour Australia in 2013
Ireland Rugby
Coach wills his U-20 team forward
The Irish U-20 squad has had a tough time of it this season although they have showed some real heart. The coach Allen Clarke is now hoping that they can pull a great performance out of the bag when they take on Samoa in the 7th-8th place playoffs in the IRB Toshiba Junior World Cup.
This is a game of pride for the team and while they have perhaps not performed as well as they would have hoped for, the coach is still proud of the boys. The last game resulted in a close call against the Welsh thanks to late kicks by Ian McKinley. Unfortunately though it was too little too late and the Irish were narrowly defeated by 17-19.
The Irish faced the challenge of losing key players during the course of the game including their captain. While they did put up a good fight against Wales, it was the solo effort of Welshman Mathew Jarvis who was responsible for scoring 14 points.
The coach is therefore optimistic that the team can pull off a victory against Samoa and this comes even though he has acknowledge that the Pacific island nation is not one to underestimate. Perhaps knowing that they have their pride to play for will be a great enough incentive for the U-20 team as they go into their final match of the season.