The 2023 Ireland U20s has the potential to be the best yet as they embark on their World Rugby U20 Championship journey.
To be the best they may have to surpass the 2016 side, who are still our most successful side in the competition, after they became the first Irish side to beat New Zealand, before losing to a powerful England team in the final.
While some of the players from the squad are still playing at the highest level and will feature at the upcoming World Cup in France, others have taken different route in life.
In our latest 'Where Are They Now' piece, we take a look back at this talented and diverse team.
Andrew Porter - Loose Head Prop
Now a stalwart of the senior Irish team, Porter was behemoth at U20s level, and even larger then than he is now.
Along with Jacob Stockdale and James Ryan, he was the first from this team to make his senior debut, against the USA in 2017.
25 June 2016; Irish rugby ; A dejected Andrew Porter of Ireland after the World Rugby U-20 Championships Final match between Ireland U20s and England at AJ Bell Stadium in Salford, England. Photo by Matt McNulty/Sportsfile
Adam McBurney - Hooker
McBurney was excellent at hooker in 2016, and scored a crucial try in their famous win over the Baby Blacks.
He was seen as the natural successor to Rory Best at Ulster, but his progressed stalled and he was signed by his current club Edinburgh in 2021.
He is also Scottish-qualified through his grandmother.
Ben Betts - Tight Head Prop
Despite a strong campaign with the Ireland U20s, Betts was not offered an academy contract at Munster.
Instead he moved to Leicester Tigers before togging out for the likes of Sydney University, Ealing, and Doncaster.
He now plays for Nottingham in the RFU Championship, and also works as a senior principal consultant at a recruitment firm.
Sean O'Connor - Lock
The Cashel man made nine appearances for Munster, including his debut in their win against the Maori All Blacks in 2016.
He was let go by Munster in 2020 and moved to Jersey Reds, with whom won recently won the RFU Championship.
James Ryan - Lock
The captain and star of the team.
Is now gearing up for the World Cup in France as one of Ireland's most important players and one of the world's premier second-rows.
Greg Jones - Blindside Flanker
A Dublin native, Jones went into the Ulster academy after the U20s, and has made 44 appearances for the province, not including friendlies.
David Aspil - Openside Flanker
The St. Mary's College RFC man never fully made it at Leinster, but made appearances for the 'A' team and trained with the senior squad.
He now resides in Sydney and works as a paraplanner at Fairstone Asset Management.
Max Deegan - Number Eight
Ireland's first and only ever World Rugby U20s Player Of The Year.
While it was decided by a fan vote, with England's Harry Mallinder being the outstanding U20s player that year, Deegan was nonetheless crucial to Ireland's run to the final and their best player alongside Ryan.
He's not in Leinster's first choice 23 at the minute, and could do with a move away considering his talent and ability.
25 June 2016; Irish rugby ; Max Deegan of Ireland in action during the World Rugby U-20 Championships Final match between Ireland and England at AJ Bell Stadium in Salford, England. Photo by Matt McNulty/Sportsfile
Stephen Kerins - Scrum-Half
Kerins made 14 appearances for Connacht over four seasons [friendlies excluded], before moving on loan to Bristol Bears, and eventually signing for Ealing Trailfinders.
He now plays for Richmond in the RFU Championship while working as a lead community analyst at Harmonic Finance.
Johnny McPhillips - Out-Half
Born and raised in England, McPhillips made Ulster his home, and togged out in the Pro 14 and Champions Cup with the province.
From there he moved onto Leicester Tigers for two seasons, before signing for US Carcassonne in the Pro D2.
He now plays for Provence in the same league.
Hugo Keenan - Left Wing
If you were to have made a prediction at the time, Keenan's ceiling looked like a few injury enforced Champions Cup caps at best.
However, despite being outshone by Stockdale at fulback, Keenan is now one of the first names on Ireland's senior team sheet and arguably the best fullback in the world.
15 June 2016; Irish rugby ; Hugo Keenan of Ireland u20s scores a try during the World Rugby U-20 Championships match between Ireland and Georgia at Manchester City Academy Stadium in Manchester, England
Conor O'Brien - Inside Centre
A few seasons ago, Leinster had three young and talented back coming through, all with the surname O'Brien; Conor, Tommy, and Jimmy.
Conor was ahead of both of them in the Leinster ranks, standing out with his tackle breaking abilities.
Unfortunately, he was forced to announce his retirement last August after years of injury struggles.
He is now a business development executive at
Shane Daly - Outside Centre
A wonderful player and has just enjoyed the best season of his career with Munster.
Extremely versatile and capable of playing centre, wing, or fullback.
With a bit more luck over the years he could have had the role of Ireland's go-to utility back, a position currently held by the man he started ahead of in this tournament, Jimmy O'Brien.
Matthew Byrne - Right Wing
Was a member of the Connacht Academy from 2016-2019, before playing AIL for Terenure.
He is now a graduate architect at Cullen Payne Architects.
Jacob Stockdale - Fullback
Another star of this team and had already made multiple Ulster appearances before this tournament.
Was named in Andy Farrell's World Cup warm-up squad, and will hopefully regain some of his GOATED 2018 form and make a push for World Cup selection.
20 June 2016; Irish rugby ; Jacob Stockdale of Ireland U20s scores a try during the World Rugby U20 Championship 2016 Semi Final match between Ireland and Argentina at Manchester City Academy Stadium in Manchester, England. Photo by Matt McNulty/Sportsfile
Honourable Mentions:
Jimmy O'Brien - No. 23 on the team that reached the final in 2016 and looking likely to be part of Ireland's upcoming World Cup plans in France.
Terry Kennedy - Was not part of the squad for the final but has reached the pinnacle of the sevens game and was named World Sevens Player of the Year for 2021/22.
Will Connors - Also did not play in the final, but has since been capped Ireland. Has had serious injury struggles, but a fabulous player when fit and the best tackler in the country.
SEE ALSO: Balls.ie's Greatest Ireland U20s XV Of All-Time
