{"id":526442,"date":"2026-06-30T20:49:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/526442\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T20:49:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:49:16","slug":"big-changes-made-for-ireland-u20s-in-must-win-argentina-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/526442\/","title":{"rendered":"Big changes made for Ireland U20s in must-win Argentina clash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tom Wood returns to the starting lineup for Ireland U20s for their must-win World Rugby Junior Championship clash against Argentina on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The son of Munster legend Keith Wood comes in for Charlie O\u2019Shea, who was a highlight during Ireland\u2019s first-game defeat to England in Tbilisi. There\u2019s a new centre partnership for the Pumas clash as Jack Deegan comes in and partners James O\u2019Leary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Charlie Molony and Noah Byrne keep their place in the back three, along with hat-trick hero <a href=\"https:\/\/extra.ie\/2026\/06\/27\/the-lineout\/ireland-u20s-england-ryan-defeat\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Daniel Ryan<\/a>, who was also in scintillating form in that defeat to England.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/tom-wood-3.jpg\" alt=\"tom wood\" class=\"wp-image-1738818\"  \/>Pic: Roberto Bregani\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the pack, there are two changes as Munster pair Joe Finn and Alex Latsou come in for Leinster duo Dylan McNiece and Ben Blaney, respectively.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The front row remains unchanged as Sam Bhisti captains the side from tighthead prop along with Rian Handley and Max Doyle. Then, Donnacha Maguire partners Finn at lock. Josh Neill and Diarmuid O\u2019Connell keep their places in the back row, joined by Latsou.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McNiece, Blaney, along with\u00a0Duinn Maguire, Adam Cooper and Blake McClean provide cover for the forwards on the bench, along with James O\u2019Dwyer, Charlie O\u2019Shea and Rob Carney.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782852556_88_3495086.jpg\" alt=\"ireland u20s\" class=\"wp-image-1785789\"  \/>Daniel Ryan of Ireland scores his third try. Pic: Tamuna Kulumbegashvili\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last time out, Argentina hammered the USA 78-14 as they sit atop Pool C on points difference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ireland\u2019s loss to England last time out makes Thursday\u2019s match a must-win for Andrew Browne\u2019s side if they are to compete for the top prize at the World Junior Championships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ireland U20s team to face Argentina in the World Rugby Junior Championship: Byrne; Molony, Deegan, O\u2019Leary; Ryan; Wood, O\u2019Dwyer; Doyle, Handley, Bhisti (c); Finn, Maguire; Neill, Latsou, O\u2019Connell. Substitutes: D Maguire, Cooper, McClean, McNiece, Latsou, O\u2019Dwyer, O\u2019Shea, Carney<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our Ireland U20s team to face Argentina in Tbilisi on Thursday. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CaIDuFqU6L\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/CaIDuFqU6L<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/IrishRugby\/status\/2071927101385736431?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">June 30, 2026<\/a><br \/>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Wood returns to the starting lineup for Ireland U20s for their must-win World Rugby Junior Championship clash&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-526442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}