Under-20 Six Nations: Ireland 48 Wales 33
Similar to their senior counterparts, the Irish Under-20 side will take on Scotland next weekend with a Triple Crown on the line after they chalked up their third win in succession at Virgin Media Park in a high-scoring affair against Wales.
Indeed, Ireland have a slim chance of claiming the Under-20 championship but they would need to beat Scotland by a huge margin and hope that England do the same away to France and deny them a single point.
That scenario is unlikely but after being mauled by France on the opening weekend, this Under-20 Six Nations has turned out quite well for Andrew Browne’s side as they ran in seven tries to see off a gutsy Welsh side.
Wales, seeking a first win in Cork on their fourth visit, made a brilliant start and raced into a 12-0 lead after just eight minutes. But Ireland didn’t panic and by half-time had the try bonus point in the bag and control of the game.
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A try from hooker Tom Howe after a good maul from a lineout laid down an early mark for Wales and when number eight Evan Minto was stopped short after an intercept and hacked kick, winger Tom Bowen pounced and outhalf Lloyd Lucas converted to make it 12-0.
But Ireland got control of the match, with Josh Neill, their South African-born and Irish-qualified flanker leading the way up front, and fullback Noah Byrne also continuing his great campaign.
They got back in contention when another player having an impressive tournament, winger Daniel Ryan, finished off a flowing move involving scrumhalf Christopher Barrett, centre Ron Carney, outhalf Tom Wood and Byrne.
Neill continued his run of scoring in each game when he squeezed over from a tapped penalty when Welsh centre Osian Darwin-Lewis was binned for a deliberate knock-on as centre James O’Leary was about to collect and score from a couple of metres. Wood’s conversion tied the game at 12-12.
Ireland outscored Wales 14-0 in the second quarter, getting another try when they had the extra man with Ryan skipping past half a dozen defenders before his Connacht team-mate Diarmaid O’Connell collected short of the line to score.
And they wrapped up the try bonus point five minutes from the interval when scrumhalf Barrett sniped over after another good maul from the pack. Wood’s third conversion gave them a 26-12 interval lead.
Hooker Lee Fitzpatrick crossed inside a minute of the restart after a penalty to the right corner and while Wales struck for a couple of tries when Ireland loosehead Max Doyle was in the bin, Ryan intercepted to run from five metres from his own line to score at the other end and replacement hooker Duinn Maguire got their seventh try 13 minutes from the end.
Wales never gave up and replacement outhalf Charlie O’Shea opted to put the game to bed with a penalty seven minutes from time which put them more than two scores ahead after another impressive display.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 4 mins: Howe try, 0-5; 8: Bowen try, Lucas con, 0-12; 15: Ryan try, 5-12; 20: Neill try, Wood con, 12-12; 25: O’Connell try, Wood con, 19-12; 38: Barrett try, Wood con, 26-12; Half-time: 26-12; 41: Fitzpatrick try, 31-12; 49: James try, Leggatt-Jones con, 31-19; 55: Ryan try, O’Shea con, 38-19; 59: James try, Leggatt-Jones con, 38-26; 67: Maguire try, O’Shea con, 45-26; 71: Bowen try, Leggatt-Jones con, 45-33; 73: O’Shea pen, 48-33.
IRELAND: N Byrne; D Moloney, R Carney, J O’Leary, D Ryan; T Wood, C Barrett; M Doyle, L Fitzpatrick, S Bishti (capt); J Finn, D McNeice; J Neill, B Blaney, D O’Connell.
Replacements: C O’Shea for Wood (45 mins); C Foley for Blaney (52-59); D Maguire for Fitzpatrick (58); B Hayes for Doyle (59); J O’Sullivan for O’Leary (62); B McClean for Bishti (67); D McGuire for McNeice (68); J O’Dwyer for Byrne (71).
WALES: R Cummings; D Scott, O Darwin-Lewis, S Emanuel, T Bowen; L Lucas, S Davies; G Tuckley, T Howe, J Pritchard; L Evans, O Williams; D Gwynne, C James, E Minto.
Replacements: D Kossuth for Minto (25 mins); C Leggatt-Jones for Lucas (49); Y Cook for Pritchard (59); G Leyland for Tuckley (63); O Rees for Evans (69); O Thomas for Howe, C Pritchard for Davies, B Cutts for Darwin-Lewis (all 72).
Referee: Kevin Balley (France).
