Doak, who has overseen a number of preparatory camps at the IRFU High Performance Centre in recent weeks, brings a wealth of experience to the role as the extended Ireland U20s squad, sponsored by PwC, gear up towards their 2025 Championship opener against England at Virgin Media Park on Thursday, 30 January (Kick-off 7.45pm).
The former Ulster scrum-half has coached the Ireland U18s and Combined Academies in recent seasons, and was part of the Ireland U20s Coaching Team for last summer’s U20 World Championship in South Africa as a Senior Coach.
Doak will be assisted during the 2025 campaign by Assistant Coaches Ian Keatley, who continues in his role from last year’s Six Nations and U20 World Championship, and former Connacht second row Andrew Browne and Seamus Toomey.
An extended Ireland U20s squad will step up preparations for the U20 Six Nations in the coming weeks, as they face Italy U20s in an uncapped match on Friday, 20 December at St Mary’s College (Kick-off 2pm), before going head-to-head with a Leinster Development XV at Energia Park on Saturday, 4 January (Kick-off 5pm).
From there, Doak will select his squad for the Championship which gets underway against England in Cork, before a trip to Edinburgh in Round 2 to face Scotland on Saturday, 8 February (Kick-off 7.45pm).
Ireland U20s travel to Rodney Parade on Friday, 21 February (Kick-off 7.45pm) before welcoming France to Virgin Media Park for a Round 4 showdown on Friday, 7 March (Kick-off 8pm). The Championship concludes with an away clash against Italy in Treviso on Friday, 14 March (Kick-off 7.45pm).
Looking ahead to the campaign, Doak said: “It is a huge honour to take on the role of Ireland Men’s U20s Head Coach, and a challenge I am massively excited about. We have had a number of camps in the High Performance Centre and the application, hard work and commitment of the players has been really impressive.
“We have a lot of work to get through in preparation for the U20 Six Nations, but the group are focused on building positively day-by-day and the upcoming matches against Italy and the Leinster Development XV over the Christmas and New Year period present us with an invaluable opportunity to build that cohesion and momentum.
“We look forward to the challenges ahead, starting off with the visit of England to Virgin Media Park, where the Ireland U20s have received incredible support from the people of Cork in recent years, and we are determined to continue our excellent home record there and produce a performance we can be proud of.”
