By Graham Thomas
Ireland U20 captain Alex Kendellen will be giving it plenty of hammer when he aims to drive his team back into contention for the Six Nations title.
West Ham fan Kendellen found that whatever bubbles he tried to blow against England in the last round did not see his Irish youngsters rise to the top of the age group table.
But following that 24-15 defeat – which leaves Ireland in second place in the table with two rounds to go – the back row forward is convinced his team can stay in touch with the leaders by beating Italy at Cardiff Arms Park on Wednesday.
The match, which is live on S4C Clic, sees the Irish face an Italian side who stunned Scotland in their last match to record a hugely impressive 43-3 victory.
“We were absolutely devastated to lose to England, admits Kendellen after Irish hopes of a Triple Crown and Grand Slam slipped through fingers.
“I thought the boys fronted up and maybe with 10 more minutes it could have been a different result.
“We poured everything into it – our heart and soul – but we have licked our wounds and now we come back for Italy.
“That’s the benefit of this tournament. You’ve got that chance to come back quickly and hopefully go from a loss to a win.”
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A huge shift from Ireland U20s captain Alex Kendellen earns him the #U20SixNations Man of the Match award #ShoulderToShoulder #IrishRugby #SCOvIRE pic.twitter.com/TmOitdDfNd
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) June 19, 2021
This has been a breakthrough year for Kendellen, who not only made his Munster Guinness Pro 14 debut back in March against the Scarlets, but who hit the ground running in the Six Nations by picking up the player of the round award after Ireland’s opening won over Scotland.
The No.8 scored a try against the Scots and crossed for another in the victory over Wales, but found England a harder nut to crack.
His progress has been all the more impressive given that he was something of a late developer. Like fellow Munster forward Tadhg Beirne – currently chasing a Test starting place with the British and Irish Lions out in South Africa – Kendellen was more interested in the round ball as a child than the oval one.
“I probably started rugby later than most. I was 12 or 13 when I joined Cork Con,” adds the 20-year-old.
“I kind of fell in love with the game from there on. But I played a lot of soccer and golf when I was younger. I come from a die-hard West Ham family so when I was growing up I was going across to Upton Park quite a lot.”
His progress since switching to rugby, however, has been rapid. Ireland U20 head coach Richie Murphy had no hesitation in making Kendellen skipper for this current tournament, even though there were players in the squad with more experience.
“He’s an incredible young player,” said Murphy about Kendellen after that inspiring opening performance against the Scots.
“There’s little things in his game that he needs to improve on, and they’ve been shown to him on a regular basis but his athleticism, his will to win, is second to none.
“As a captain, he leads very much by example. He’s well thought of and communicates with the lads in a cool and calm manner which is really important.”
Italy, though, showed they are a cut above Scotland and would have had two wins in the bag if they had not given away so many penalties in their narrow defeat to Wales in the opening round.
It could even have been three from three if they had also cut down the error count in their 13-11 defeat to France.
The Italians have surprised opponents in this tournament so far, particularly with their fitness and ability to play with intensity to the final whistle.
Unlike their senior Six Nations team, they do not drop off once the clock reaches the hour mark and their impressive captain and flanker Luca Andreani is convinced the Italians can gain their second victory.
“It was a special day against Scotland because we really played the game we wanted to,” says Andreani, a tryscorer against the Scots.
“I was really proud of the boys. We now have two really tough games against Ireland and England., but we really feel we can compete with all the teams in this tournament.”
S4C Clic – Wednesday: Italy U20 v Ireland U20 – 2.00pm.
Watch live on the S4C Clic Player, from 2.00pm on Wednesday. To access S4C Clic, visit www.s4c.cymru/clic/or download the S4C Clic app.
Match coverage on S4C Clic will have the option for Welsh or English commentary. Quick, free one-time registration required to use S4C Clic
