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England A punish an injury ravaged Ireland A side in Bristol
By Ian Cameron
England A built on the momentum from the senior side’s Calcutta Cup triumph by securing a 28-12 victory over Ireland A in wet conditions at Ashton Gate.
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By the time the full-time whistle was blown in Bristol, Ireland A had lost no fewer than five of their 23 to various injuries with Diarmuid Barron, Shane Daly, Harry Byrne, Ciaran Frawley and Oli Jager all removed from the field.
Ollie Hassell-Collins opened the scoring for the home side in the corner following a looping backline move, with Charlie Atkinson adding the conversion from near the touchline.
Ireland responded by pressuring England’s defence close to the line but despite crossing the whitewash twice early on, both attempts were held up.
Play frequently broke down due to handling errors, with the sodden ball proving difficult to control for both sides. The visitors briefly drew closer when Shayne Bolton dived over from a sublime pass from Ireland A blindside Max Deegan, though a missed conversion left them trailing 7-5.
England’s second try arrived courtesy of the excellent Jack van Poortvliet, who executed a dummy on halfway to evade defenders before finishing under the posts, giving the hosts a 14-5 lead.
His Leicester Tigers’ teammate Hassell-Collins appeared to double his personal tally soon after, but a forward pass in the build-up saw the score chalked off, leaving England nine points ahead at the interval.
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The second half saw Ireland A endure further misfortune, as injuries forced multiple rejigging of their backline.
England A capitalized on a series of lineout steals, which led to consistent pressure near the Irish line. Although Ireland defended bravely, replacement Greg Fisilau eventually spotted a gap to burst through from the 22 before rounding winger Tommy O’Brien, with Jamie Shillcock’s conversion taking the score to 21-5.
The visitors rallied through a short-range try from the superb Hugh Gavin, converted by Nathan Doak, narrowing the margin to 21-12.
In the final minutes, England pressed and forced an infringement from Deegan, who knocked the ball intentionally close to his own try line.
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The referee awarded a penalty try, cementing an impressive 28-12 win.
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