U-20’S bring game to Ireland(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

The United States U-20 men’s rugby team is kicking off the New Year abroad as the squad is in the midst of its Ireland tour. After naming the starting squad on the eve of the beginning of the tour, the U-20’s began their quest by squaring of against the U-20 squad of the storied Munster club, the same team that took on the Men’s Eagles before they shipped out to the 2007 rugby world cup. A hard-fought match against Munster saw the US fall by a narrow 14-7 margin, but in many ways, it was a good start to the trip. Training had been difficult for the US team, as they have had to deal with wet weather and muddy field conditions, but the bad-weather training that the team did get in helped assimilate them with the playing conditions in the Munster game.
After dropping the match to Munster, the U-20’s had the task of taking down Trinity College; the oldest rugby club in the country. Heading into the match, the US had its work cut out as head coach Salty Thompson elected to start an entirely new front row, including six new forwards and four new backs. The change proved to spark the offense against Trinity and the two teams were tied at 22-apiece late in the game. The US managed one more try, but Trinity notched 14 more points and escaped with the 36-27 victory. Next up for the US team is Queens University and the US hopes to put what they have learned in the first two games to use to grab a victory in game three.