Young Irish impress

Ireland 22 Wales 15:THE FUTURE of Irish rugby is in good hands if this fully-merited, three tries to none win over Wales was anything to go by in the first of three matches this week in the Six Nations on a warm afternoon at Stadio Aprile on the outskirts of Parma, in Italy, yesterday.

This has become a competition that the Irish enter with some trepidation as Wales and England, especially, have benefited from moving their players into the professional academies of their clubs from the age of 15, leaving the Irish with a deficit in terms of their physical dimensions.

Once again, Ireland were under-sized up front where they still managed to give as good as they got under the stewardship of captain Niall Annett, the brave scrummaging of Martin Moore and James Tracy and an athletic contribution from a scavenging back five.

The Irish were able right from the start. Outhalf Gareth Quinn-McDonagh’s pinpoint reverse kick to the corner allowed pressure to be applied. Lock Aaron Spring rose imperiously to snatch the ball against the throw and Quinn-McDonagh slipped into the pocket to hit a drop goal in the fourth minute.

It got even better when Wales’ indiscipline allowed Ireland to move upfield through a series of Quinn-McDonagh penalties before number eight Jordi Murphy gathered in at the tail of a lineout. The ball was transferred for centre Brendan Macken to get a hand-off on Dale Ford and send Andrew Conway in for a textbook try.

For all their physical superiority, Wales could not muscle Ireland into the right areas of the pitch. Hooker Annett was pinged for holding on too long on the floor, following a forward pass from Conway. Wales fullback Tom Prydie slammed over a penalty off the left upright.

Immediately, the Macken-Conway double act was supreme again. From a set play, Macken’s slight of hand put Conway through a hole for his second try, converted by right wing Tiernan O’Halloran.

By midway through the second half Prydie kicked his fourth penalty to make it 15-12.

But soon after, centre Alex Kelly crashed over from 10 metres.

IRELAND: A Conway (Blackrock); T O’Halloran (Cistercian, Roscrea), B Macken (Blackrock), A Kelly (St Michael’s), C Colvin (Royal, Armagh); G Quinn-McDonagh (Crescent), P du Toit (King’s Hospital); J Tracy (Newbridge), N Annett (Methodist, capt), M Moore (Castleknock), D O’Mahony (PBC, Cork), A Spring (Sligo Grammar), S Leckey (Methodist), D Doyle (Gonzaga), J Murphy (Blackrock). Replacements: P Marks (RBAI) for Leckey (38 mins); N Scannell (PBC, Cork) for Doyle, S Buckley (Rockwell) for Spring (both 62 mins); C Carey (Methodist) for Moore (66 mins).

WALES: T Prydie; L Williams, D Ford, J Gadd, E Walker; M Morgan, A Jones; R Jenkins, L Davies, R Jones, L Peers (capt), M Cook, E Siggery, T Young, D Barry. Replacements: L Hamilton for Barry (39 mins); L Smout for Jenkins (50 mins); G Harvey for Davies, G North for Gadd (both 54 mins); L Robling for Morgan (58 mins); T Crandon for Cook (59 mins).

Referee: J van der Merve (Scotland).