Under-21 International England 27 Ireland 19As a contest it boiled down to the taking of chances. England availed of most of their opportunities while Ireland were not afforded too many gilt-edged openings. A try count of 4-1 in favour of the home side illustrates England's greater cutting edge.
Ireland kicked away too much possession, undoing some Trojan work by their pack. David Gannon led by example, one taken up by Oisín Hennessy, Denis Fogarty, Jamie Heaslip and Kevin McLaughlin. Full back Andrew Finn had a superb game.
It was almost as if Ireland required a bedding-in period. The initial prognosis was the visitors were jittery in possession, making a handful of errors that gave England field position and the momentum.
Ireland were forced to endure almost constant pressure in the first 20 minutes but on two occasions they had opportunity to clear their lines but outhalf Gareth Steenson twice saw line kicks skew off the side of his boot.
With Ireland hemmed in, it was inevitable the home side would make the pressure pay and this they did on seven minutes. It was an orthodox move off a scrum 15 metres from the Irish line with centre Andy Reay taking a pop pass from outhalf Adrian Jarvis and breaking a tackle that was more back foot than front foot to glide under the posts. Jarvis failed to convert, lackadaisical in his approach, which permitted Andrew Finn to charge down the kick.
It nudged England into a 5-3 lead, Irish outhalf Steenson having earlier kicked a superb penalty. During England's dominant phase the fringe tackling and general work-rate of the Irish pack was excellent and none more so than debutant Kevin McLaughlin. Both scrums were under pressure on their own ball with the home side able to muster the more destructive shunt.
Ireland's lineout, initially unsure, began to work with Denis Fogarty finding Gannon and Shane O'Connor. The managed to spoil several English throws but errors continued to undermine Ireland's hard work.
England's second try came from a defensive mistake, Tommy Bowe tempted in to join John Hearty in tackling Marcel Garvey and this allowed English flanker Ben Russell to squeeze over in the corner after Garvey's clever overhead pass. Jarvis, who had earlier missed a reasonably straightforward penalty, hit the post with the conversion.
Irish scrumhalf Tomás O'Leary worked hard defensively but his passing lacked snap and he overplayed the box-kicking. Steenson, under pressure, was either forced to kick or shovel on ball laden down with English tacklers to Glen Telford. The visitors though refused to be cowed by the relentless pressure.
That attitude was rewarded on 33 minutes. Having been awarded a penalty on the edge of the England 22, Steenson kicked to touch. O'Connor claimed the throw, the pack drove, before centre Hearty took a short pass to ghost between two defenders and then bamboozle English full back Jon Clarke with a great step to score under the posts. Steenson converted, virtually the last action of the half as the teams shared the honours at 10-10.
Ireland continued to show durability and with the back row outstanding they repeatedly turned over ball. Steenson's accuracy with placed ball kept Ireland in touch, the outhalf tagging on three penalties.
England tagged on 10 points from the 48th to the 55th minute. Centre Chris Bell was sharpest onto a neat chip from Jarvis as Ireland came up flat deep inside their own 22 and then the English outhalf added the conversion and a penalty.
Leading 20-13, Ireland's tenacity and Steenson's place-kicking reduced the deficit to a point at 20-19 but the Irish outhalf was subsequently guilty of a touch of "drop goalitis", long-range efforts that had little chance of success. With two minutes remaining, the Instonians man had a difficult chance from 45 metres and was unlucky to see his effort dip under the crossbar.
It was to be Ireland's last hurrah, another error pre-empting a second try for England centre Chris Bell, converted by replacement outhalf Brad Davies.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 3 mins: Steenson penalty, 0-3; 7: Reay try, 5-3; 22: Russell try, 10-3; 33: Hearty try, Steenson conversion, 10-10. Half-time:10-10. 43: Steenson penalty, 10-13; 47: Bell try, Jarvis conversion, 17-13; 55: Jarvis penalty, 20-13; 59: Steenson penalty, 20-16; 62: Steenson penalty, 20-19; 81: Bell try, Davis conversion, 27-19.
ENGLAND: J Clarke; M Garvey, C Bell, A Reay; U Monye; A Jarvis, C Stuart-Smith (capt); N Wood, R Hawkins, D Wilson; J Percival, C Day; B Russell, B Skirving, W Skinner. Replacements: S Friswell for Hawkins 67 mins; T Warren for Wilson 67 mins; B Daviesfor Jarvis 74 mins.
IRELAND: A Finn (Dolphin); R Lane (UCC), J Hearty (Blackrock College), G Telford (Dungannon), T Bowe (QUB); G Steenson (QUB), T O'Leary (Cork Constitution); J Wickham (Clontarf), D Fogarty (Cork Constitution), K Doyle (UCD); D Gannon (Blackrock College, capt), S O'Connor (Cork Constitution); K McLaughlin (UCD), J Heaslip (DU), O Hennessy (Dungannon). Replacements: D O' Brien (Old Belvedere) for McLaughlin 62 mins.
Referee: C Damasco (Italy).
