Ireland and Wales U20s have named their teams for Friday’s RBS U20 6 Nations encounter.

Ireland have beaten Italy and France but narrowly lost to England last time out, while Wales beat England in the opening fixture of the tournament but have since lost to both France and Scotland.

Speaking ahead of the game Ireland U20 Head Coach Nigel Carolan said:

“It was disappointing to lose to England in the last round, but we have put that behind us now in preparation for Wales.”

“We have addressed the key areas that were highlighted against England and hopefully we can take our chances when they come along. The championship is still there for the taking and we look forward to getting it back on track this Friday.”

Meanwhile Welsh Coach Chris Horsman, who used to coach RGC who play at Parc Eirias where Friday’s game takes place, said:

“I’m proud of what we achieved at RGC in a relatively short space of time, both on and off the pitch, and now I can see it from the other side as part of the Under 20 set-up.”

“There’s a fantastic passion and desire in north Wales – the England game was a wonderful occasion – I’ve already had lots of messages of support ahead of the game and we just want to produce another good performance to give the crowd something to cheer.”

“Looking at the group, we have made a few tweaks. Up front, Ryan Elias comes in who has played some regional rugby recently and although it is no reflection on the other hookers, it will be good to add his experience to the side. Jon Fox showed up well when he came off the bench against France, he’s a good ball carrier and we have good strength in depth with Jordan Viggers on the bench.”

“Looking at the three games so far, we had the excellent performance and result against England but things weren’t quite right against Scotland and France so we are focussed now on improving execution in certain areas and hopefully the result will follow. Ireland area a good side and both teams look to play rugby so it should be an entertaining encounter.”

Wales U20 v Ireland U20 – Friday, 19.45, Parc Eirias, Colwyn Bay. (Live on BBC 2 Wales & RTE 2)

Ireland U20:

15 – Billy Dardis (UCD/ Leinster)

14 – Ciaran Gaffney (Galwegians/Connacht)

13 – Garry Ringrose (UCD/ Leinster)

12 – Sam Arnold (Ballynahinch/Ulster)

11 – Stephen Fitzgerald (Shannon/ Munster)

10 – Ross Byrne (UCD / Leinster)

9 – Nick McCarthy (UCD/ Leinster) (Capt)

1 – Jeremy Loughman (UCD / Leinster)

2 – Zack McCall (QUB/Ulster)

3 – Oisin Heffernan (Terenure/Leinster)

4 – Cian Romaine (Buccaneers/Connacht)

5 – Josh Murphy (UCD/Leinster)

6 – Nick Timoney (St. Mary’s/Leinster)

7 – Conor Oliver (St. Mary’s/ Leinster)

8 – Lorcan Dow (QUB/Ulster)

16 – Adam McBurney (Ballymena/Ulster)

17 – Andrew Porter (UCD/ Leinster)

18 – Conan O’Donnell (Sligo/NUIG/Connacht)

19 – David O’Connor (St. Mary’s/Leinster)

20 – Stephen McVeigh (Buccaneers/ Connacht)

21 – Conor Young (QUB/Ulster)

22 – Joey Carbery (UCD/Leinster)

23 – Jacob Stockdale (QUB/ Ulster)

Wales U20

15 – Joe Gage (Ospreys)

14 – Joshua Adams (Scarlets)

13 – Owen Watkin (Ospreys)

12 – Garyn Smith (Blues)

11 – Elis Wyn-Benham (Blues)

10 – Jarrod Evans (Blues)

9 – Tom Williams (Blues)

1 – Luke Garrett (Dragons)

2 – Ryan Elias (Scarlets)

3 – Dillon Lewis (Blues)

4 – Joe Davies (Dragons)

5 – Rory Thornton (capt, Ospreys)

6 – Harrison Keddie (Dragons)

7 – Ollie Griffiths (Dragons)

8 – Jon Fox (Ospreys)

16 – Liam Belcher (Blues)

17 – Keagan Bale (Dragons)

18 – Alex Jeffries (Dragons)

19 – Adam Beard (Ospreys)

20 – Jordan Viggers (Blues)

21 – Kieran Hardy (Scarlets)

22 – Daniel Jones (Scarlets)

23 – Barney Nightingale (Dragons)