Ireland U20s coach Ritchie Murphy has claimed that no matter what happens in the final of the U20 World Championship on Friday, 'they will bring something home for Jack Oliver',
Ireland's underage rugby squad reached the final of the tournament in South Africa by beating South Africa last Sunday and they will now face France in the final in the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town.
However the tournament has been overshadowed by the deaths of two 18-year-old students, Andrew O'Donnell and Max Wall, from St. Michael's College, on the Greek island of Ios. Six members of the U20s squad, who are currently playing the U20 World Rugby Championship, have come from the same Dublin college as the two teenagers.
In addition, the tournament was overshadowed by the untimely passing of Greig Oliver, the father of Ireland scrum-half Jack, who died in a paragliding accident while in Cape Town.
The Munster coach joined Munster in 2011 and was in South Africa to visit his son Jack Oliver, who is part of Ireland's u20 World Rugby Under-20 Championship playing squad.
A former director of rugby with Garryowen, Greig Oliver served as an assistant coach of the Ireland U20 team from 2011 to 2014. As a player, he earned three caps for Scotland, featuring in both the 1987 and 1991 World Cups.
Jack Oliver was set to play in the FIji game, but understandably did not play in the final group game.
Ireland U20s will face France in Friday's World Rugby U20 Championship final in Cape Town (6pm Irish time) 🟢#FutureIsGreen | @PwCIreland
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) July 10, 2023
Ireland played South Africa and beat the co-hosts despite the tragic circumstances last Sunday.
Murphy speaking after Ireland's Ireland 31-12 win over South Africa praised his young side for overcoming their emotions and beating the junior Boks in the wake of the sad news
“It’s obviously been a difficult couple of weeks, and we’ve had plenty of stuff going on,” said Murphy.
“But Greig’s passing was particularly difficult and Jack was in the group with us up until Wednesday evening when he left, so it was a difficult time for the boys.
“But Jack sent his support as did Fiona, Greig’s wife, and they are at home, and we are really delighted to be able to bring him back something because no matter what happens now we will be going back with something for Jack.”
The coach continued: “We’re in a World Cup Final, which is exactly where we want to be.
“It would be nice to go into the Final and just be true to ourselves and play the game we’ve played all year.
“We came through unbeaten in the Six Nations and then England had a right crack at us at the start of the competition and we drew.
“We’re going into this with plenty of confidence and we’re in a good place as a team.”
Ireland's game against France begins on Friday, July 14 and kick-off is scheduled for 6pm Irish time.
