Ireland end Valencia Six Nations series with Germany loss

Ireland 0 Germany 2 (M Fuerste, T Herzbruch)

Ireland closed out their Six Nations series in Valencia with a 2-0 defeat to Germany with Moritz Fuerste and Timm Herzbruch scoring second half goals.

Nonetheless, it was a huge improvement from their May series in Hamburg against the reigning Olympic champions who won this tournament with something to spare. In that series, Ireland conceded 21 times in three fixtures.

For Craig Fulton’s side, the result meant Ireland finished the series with two draws and three narrow losses but showed a hugely competitive edge in this key Olympic preparation phase.

Speaking afterwards, the coach was pleased that his side “performed consistently well” against five sides ranked higher than them in the world.

On Saturday, Ireland drew with world number eight side New Zealand 1-1, with Shane O’Donoghue scoring his 51st international goal in the win.

And they followed up with a compact performance against the Germans who had scored at least four times in each of their other games in Valencia.

It was scoreless at the break with goalkeeper Jamie Carr making a number of solid stops. Former world player of the year Fuerste broke the deadlock in the 36th minute before Herzbruch completed the win with a couple of minutes to go.

Ireland face a quick turnaround. They flew to Cork lon Saturday ahead of a tie with the European champions Netherlands at 7pm on Monday evening at the Mardyke. It is the first time Cork has hosted an international tie since 2008.

Ireland: J Carr, J Jackson, R Gormley, M Watt, C Cargo, J Jermyn, E Magee, M Darling, K Good, P Gleghorne, C Harte

Subs: J Bell, G Watkins, A Sothern, K Shimmins, M Bell, M Robson,