Ireland U20s ready for 'do or die' clash with Australia

Ireland's meeting with Australia in Thursday's World Rugby U20 Championship will be "do or die" for the team, according to attack coach Mark Sexton.

With the three pool winners and one best-placed runner-up set to qualify for the semi-finals of the junior world championship, Ireland know that wins against both Australia and Fiji should see them advance to the final four.

However, despite picking up three match points for their 34-34 draw with England last Saturday, the margin for error is so small that a slip up against the Junior Wallabies in round two would likely end their chances of winning a first ever U20 world title.

"I think when you come to a Junior World Cup every match is do or die because if you lose one you are at the edge of a cliff," Sexton said.

"It's exciting, it’s do or die. Where else would you rather be? It’s Under-20s World Cup. It’s something I’ve dreamed of growing up and these lads have dreamed of."

The attack and backs coach (below), who is set to join Connacht next season, added that they've had plenty of areas to address since the draw with England, despite the short five-day turnaround between games.

"There are loads of learnings from the England game," he said.

"I suppose we could have won, could have lost. Ultimately three points keeps us in the competition, keeps us in the race for top four.

"Takeaways? Probably overplayed a bit at our end, failed to get out a couple of times, were a bit short in the contact department, especially in the defensive side of things. We feel that we've learned a lot and we'll be better again."

Given the five-day turnaround, Ireland have rotated their side with four changes for the meeting with the junior Wallabies.

One of those is enforced, with Hugh Cooney unavailable