Sport

Madigan holds nerve to secure late victory

Ireland Under-20 9 France Under-20 6: IRELAND SECURED victory in dramatic fashion at Dubarry Park in Athlone to get their U-…

Sat Feb 07 2009 - 00:00

Ireland Under-20 9 France Under-20 6:IRELAND SECURED victory in dramatic fashion at Dubarry Park in Athlone to get their U-20 Six Nations off to a winning start.

Ireland did not lead in the game until the fourth minute of stoppage time but they had the composure and the guile to carve out a win in a game where try-scoring chances were few and far between.

Fullback Ian Madigan was the Irish hero as he kept his nerve in the fourth minute of stoppage time to steer over a penalty from the 22. The winning opportunity was set up by a superb break by Mark Doyle and it was French loosehead Rabah Slimani who was penalised for offside.

Ireland enjoyed dominance in the lineout but far too many promising moves broke down just when it seemed a line break was on. The sides were level at 3-3 apiece at the break as Ireland managed to land just one of four kicks at the posts.

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Scrumhalf Conor Murray found the range from 30 metres after 37 minutes but was off target with two earlier attempts. Full-back Ian Madigan was well off target with an ambitious kick from the right touchline, almost 40 metres out, just before the break.

France looked the more likely to score a try in the opening half with centre Laurent Tranier and winger Nicolas Vaysse particularly sharp, and it was the French who got off the mark after 12 minutes when outhalf Pierre Bernard landed a drop goal after fullback Madigan had failed to deal with a chip.

There was always a bite to the enounter and it exploded in a brawl after 22 minutes which saw the two captains, Peter O’Mahony and Alexandre Lapandry, sent to the bin.

Both sides had opportunities early in the second half to push ahead but Bernard was off target with a penalty from the left and Andrew Burke was short with a 35-metre penalty from the right. However, France enjoyed a good third quarter and while the Irish defence held firm, Bernard had another opportunity after 53 minutes and this time he landed the kick from the left wing.

IRELAND: I Madigan (Blackrock College); D Kearney (Lansdowne), I McKinley (UCD), E Sheridan (Lansdowne), M Keating (Clontarf); A Burke (Garryowen), C Murray (Garryowen); J McGrath (St Mary’s College), T Sexton (Old Belvedere), J O’Connell (Lansdowne); C Ruddock (Neath), M Flanagan (UCD); R Ruddock (Milfield School), D Ryan (Lansdowne), P O’Mahony (Cork Con). Replacements: G Foley (Blackrock College) for McKinley (51 mins), J Cooney (UCD) for Murray (53 mins), M Doyle (Ul Bohemians) for Burke (inj, 66 mins), J Sandford (Queen’s University) for C Ruddock (68 mins), P McAllister (Ballynahinch) for O’Connell (73 mins), O’Connell for McGrath (inj, 79 mins), M Noone (Seapoint) for Ryan (80 mins).

FRANCE: S Guitoune; N Vaysse, G Namy, L Tranier, J Sinzelle; P Bernard, F Cazenave; R Slimani, JC Orioli, T Lebrequier; R Boukerou, M De Marco; A Lapandry, B Guyot, L Goujon. Replacements: T Dubois for Lebrequier (inj, 40 mins); V Colliat for Orioli (48 mins); L Radosavlejic for Cazenave (64 mins), V Mutel for Boukerou (64 mins), J Guillot for Goujon (64 mins), R Lombard for Guitone (74 mins), G Doumayron for Vaysse (74 mins).

Referee: D Bodily (Wales).