Ireland survived a late charge from the England North and Midland Division side in this representative fixture at Castle Avenue last night.

After centre Derek McCombe had levelled the scoring on five minutes with a penalty, the Irishmen went ahead with tries to Mark Meenan and number eight John Skurr. And with McCombe adding his third kick of the half, the Irish led 18-3 at the interval.

Skurr's second score four minutes into the second half from a pushover try seemed to have killed off the English challenge but the Irish then saw their lead evaporate with three English tries.

Ireland Under-21: F Baynes; D Rossi, M Lawlor, D McCombe, G Murphy; M Meenan, D Campbell; L Treston, A Flavin, N Foxe, P O'Connell, D Browne, C McCarey, A Hughes, J Skurr. Replacements: S Keogh for Campbell (half-time), G Hickie for Flavin, E Collins for Hughes, G Brady for D Rossi, F Roche for Treston (all half-time), J O'Connor for McCarey (60 mins).

England North And Midland Division: M Stephenson; G Howe, S Brading, J Rolt, K Dixon; C Hodgson, G Taylor; B Buxton, C Balshan, J Marston, E Norris, P Murphy, A Monighan, D Collins, J Dunbar.

Referee: D Woods.