Where are they now: The 2007 Ireland U20 Six Nations Grand Slam champions
2007 was the first year that age-grade rugby switched its focus from under-21s to the newly-created under-20s and it was Ireland who struck Six Nations gold, clinching the Grand Slam with a 36-25 comeback victory over Italy in Benevento after earlier triumphs over Wales, France, England and Scotland.
Thirteen years have passed since that eye-catching success for Eric Elwood’s side, who came from 20-7 behind in the Italian sun in their final match to record their glory-sealing win over hosts who were permitted to field an under-21 team in the competition.
Not all of the Irish XV that March day went on to carve out a successful professional career in the game. Just three of those who did make it are still earning a wage on the pitch, but there were some notable success stories – one World Cup-winning coach, six Ireland Test players, two became British and Irish Lions players. And that is before you even factor in how Luke Fitzgerald and Sean O’Brien were off-limits that spring due to injury.
Here, RugbyPass goes through what became of the class of 2007:
15. Felix Jones
The silky left-footed full-back from Dublin went on to win 13 Test caps with Ireland where his move from Leinster to Munster in 2009 was the making of his career. A cruel neck injury forced his retirement in October 2015, but he quickly moved into coaching at the province, rising to the rank of attack coach. Snubbed a contract extension last May and was snapped up by Rassie Erasmus to fill the spot on the World Cup-winning Springboks coaching staff vacated by Swys de Bruin. Has since become the Boks’ European-based coaching consultant.
14. Shane Monahan
Having flirted with Leinster and Connacht, making a combined five appearances, a 2011 switch to Rotherham in the English Championship accelerated the winger’s reputation. An eleven-try haul brought the Drogheda-reared poacher to the attention of Premiership scouts and he went on to have three productive years at Gloucester, appearing 19 times in the top flight and scoring five league tries. Joined Munster as 2015 World Cup cover before knocking rugby on the head to launch his own company. His Limor app is a social audio platform allows users to create and share audio as a podcast.
13. Darren Cave
The centre won eleven Test caps, culminating in a start at the 2015 World Cup in front of a record tournament crowd in the Wembley win over Romania. Became a lynchpin in the Ulster midfield, helping them reach the 2012 Heineken Cup final and going on to become their joint record appearance holder on 229, the same as Andrew Trimble. Called it quits last summer at the age of 32 to focus on his Belfast-based cafe business, Guilt Free Coffee. Has also become a media pundit, appearing regularly on The Rugby Pod with Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode.
12. Aidan Wynne
The Co Offaly talent went on to make the grade at Connacht, spending four seasons at the club and making 43 league and cup appearances before stepping away and switching into the Irish grassroots scene with Buccaneers, Old Belvedere and Tullamore. Now works as a logistics coordinator at National Food Imports Ltd.
— Keith Earls (@KEITHEARLS87) March 15, 2020
11. Keith Earls
Created headlines a few weeks ago when tweeting his concern about how some people in Ireland were failing to take the coronavirus threat seriously. A usually private individual, his strong message struck a chord reflective of the high standing people hold him in. Earned his first Ireland Test cap within 20 months of winning the age-grade Grand Slam and is still going strong now with 84 appearances. A long-term stalwart for Munster across 168 games and a 2009 British and Irish Lion, he overcame the trauma of an injury-hit few years which left him uncapped by Ireland for 29 months leading into the 2015 World Cup. He is centrally contracted with the IRFU through to summer 2021.
10. Ian Keatley
His Ireland career was restricted to just seven caps due to the queue at No10, his last appearance featuring a match-sealing kick versus Fiji in November 2017, but he has been a trooper at club level in making 269 league and cup appearances for Connacht, Munster and now Benetton, scoring a whopping 1,995 points along the way. Also enjoyed a fruitful pitstop at London Irish last season, kicking them to Championship glory before embarking on his two-year stint in Italy.
9. Paul O’Donohoe
Spent three seasons at Leinster before heading away to Connacht for a similar length spell. He then stepped away from the game having made 69 league and cup appearances, mostly as back-up scrum-half. Has since moved into a sales career in London, working at Pitch International and now CannGoods.
Ian Keatley on his move to Italy via London
'There were tears… it wasn't the way I wanted to leave Munster' https://t.co/CMqlEKZaxJ
— liam heagney (@heagneyl) March 3, 2019
8. David Pollock (capt)
The age-grade team’s skipper made the breakthrough at Ulster that same season, featuring in their Celtic League team, and he seemed set for a long career until injury brutally snuffed out his promise. He played 45 times and even skippered Ulster in a European match versus Stade Francais, but he was finished in 2010 when a surgeon told him his hip was no longer going to stand up to the rigours of professional rugby. Took some time out before returning to education and having since achieved qualifications in medicine, his latest goal is to become a consultant in radiology.
7. Kevin Sheahan
A talent who suffered from the galaxy of back row riches Ireland produced around that time. Dabbled with rugby in America and Italy before becoming a regular on the All-Ireland league circuit. Now works in the diagnostic radiology department at hospitals in Cork.
6. Thomas Anderson
The son of ex-Ireland skipper Willie, whose daring in going nose-to-nose with the All Blacks’ haka in 1989 has aged well on YouTube. TJ tried to make the grade at his native Ulster, making 20 Celtic League appearances in three seasons before giving Connacht a whirl for two years. He called it quits in 2013 to pursue a legal career that has taken him to London where he is currently operations director at JW Anderson.
Very thoughtful of @themainmanmono to provide us with a laugh during this crazy time????? https://t.co/rsfkxJCi5Q
— Andrew Browne (@Brownetown87) March 24, 2020
5. Andrew Browne
The lock enjoyed a lengthy career at Connacht, the province that also gave his older brother Damian his start in the pro ranks. Clocked up 156 league and cup appearances, the highlight being the 2016 PRO12 title win, before stepping away in summer 2018. Has remained in rugby, becoming head coach at club side Galwegians while studying at NUI Galway.
4. Conor McInerney
Went on to learn the ropes in the Leinster academy before taking the plunge with a 2009 switch to Ospreys. However, he was forced into retirement at the age of 24 without ever playing much, a knee injury felling him. Has since carved out a career in banking and currently works in London with Nomura’s capital commitments division.
3. Jamie Hagan
An Ireland one-capper, the tighthead made his sole Test appearance versus USA In 2013. The Dubliner has enjoyed a transient career that is still going, Pro D2 outfit Beziers the latest pit-stop in an adventure that has featured stints at Connacht, Leinster, London Irish and Melbourne Rebels.
2. Richard Sweeney
Had a very short-lived stint at Coventry in 2009 but left to take up a university place in Dublin at the Royal College of Surgeons. Has since forged a career in medicine where he now works in anaesthetics at Cappagh Orthopaedic hospital.
1. Cian Healy
The loosehead has gone on to enjoy a stellar career on a par with 2007 age-grade team-mate Earls. He has earned 98 Ireland Test caps, toured with the British and Irish Lions, won multiple honours with Leinster, whom he has played for on 216 occasions, and is centrally contracted with the IRFU until summer 2021. Nerve damage nearly forced him into retirement but he bounced back to make the 2015 World Cup and hasn’t looked back since.
Bench
16. Kyle Tonetti, 17. Ruaidhri Murphy, 18. Neilus Keogh, 19. Eoghan Grace, 20. David Drake, 21. Ger Slattery, 22. Niall O’Connor. Fitzgerald and O’Brien were also part of that year’s squad but missed out through injury.
Nearly all the bench had varying careers in pro rugby. Tonetti, for instance, played for Sale while Murphy featured at the Super Rugby Brumbies. Drake still works in the game, last year becoming Ulster’s senior athletic performance coach, while New York-based O’Connor caddied for pal golfer Rory McIlroy last November. The exploits of Fitzgerald and O’Brien need no introduction, both going on to star for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. O’Brien is still in the game with London Irish and is due to publish his autobiography later this year.
WATCH: Billy Vunipola chats to Jim Hamilton in the latest episode of The Lockdown, the new RugbyPass series
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
29 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to comments