The Irish side faces into this fixture on the back of three wins form three in the tournament so far.

Coach Mike Ruddock made a number of changes to his side that played against Italy a fortnight ago.

Luke McGrath takes his place in the starting XV to take the scrumhalf spot.

A reworked pack sees James Rael join Peter Reilly and Kyle McCall in the front row. Iain Henderson moves from five to four and will partner Danny Qualter in the second row. Conor Gilsenan moves across the back row with Aaron Conneely coming in to join Jack Conan.

Tadhg Bernie, Jordan Coughlan and Kieran Marmion are named in the replacements along with Callum O’Connell who comes into the 22 for the first time.

Speaking of his selection and of the task at hand, Ruddock said “We have reinstated a few of the lads that were involved in the win against France; we felt that they deserved to come back into the equation for this test.”

“We certainly don’t underestimate the Scottish side, I have looked at their tapes and realise that our defense are going to have to work very hard to stop them crossing the line.”

“We have prepared to the best of our ability and are ready to front up to a very talented Scotland team.”

Friday's game will be broadcast live from Dubarry Park on RTE Two.

Ireland U-20 v Scotland U-20 (Dubarry Park, Athlone - Friday 9th March 2012, Kick-off 7.05pm)
15 - Shane Layden (Buccaneers - Connacht)
14 - Conor Finn (Buccaneers - Connacht)
13 - Chris Farrell (Dungannon - Ulster)
12 - JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians - Munster)
11 - Foster Horan (Lansdowne - Leinster)
10 - Paddy Jackson (Dungannon - Ulster)(Capt)
9 - Luke McGrath (UCD - Leinster)
1 -Kyle McCall (QUB - Ulster)
2 - James Rael (Garryowen - Munster)
3 - Peter Reilly (Lansdowne - Leinster)
4- Iain Henderson (Queens - Ulster)
5 - Daniel Qualter (Buccaneers - Connacht)
6 - Conor Gilsenan (UCD - Leinster)
7 - Aaron Conneely (Corinthians - Connacht)
8 - Jack Conan (Old Belvedere - Leinster)

Replacements
16. Callum O’Connell (Galwegians - Connacht)
17. Des Merrey (Clontarf - Leinster)
18 - Jake Cawley (Old Belvedere - Leinster)
19. Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne - Leinster)
20. Jordan Coghlan (UCD - Leinster)
21. Kieron Marmion (Corinthians - Connacht)
22 - Cathal Marsh (Dublin University - Leinster)
23 - Stuart Olding (Belfast Harlequins - Ulster)

Ireland Under-20 RBS 6 Nations Fixtures 2012 (All Kick-off Times GMT):
Fri 9th Mar 19:05 Ireland U20 v Scotland U20 Dubarry Park
Fri 16th Mar 20:05 England U20 v Ireland U20 Adams Park

For further information contact:
Maria Boland, IRFU Communications Department
E-mail: maria.boland@irfu.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1 6473828/ +353 (0)87 7645327