Ireland U20s thump English counterparts in Franklin Gardens
England men U20s were defeated 39-21 by reigning U20 Six Nations champions Ireland U20s at Northampton’s Franklin’s Gardens.
Ireland led 29-7 at the break scoring tries through Alex Soroka, Hayden Hyde, Thomas Ahern and Ethan McIlroy, while England crossed via George Hammond.
Second half scores from Hugh Tizard and Theo Dan gave England hope but tries via Max O’Reilly and Ahern won the game for Ireland.
It was a first loss for England having defeated France and Scotland in the opening two rounds, while Ireland remain unbeaten.
Ireland started brightly and sent over an early penalty through Jack Crowley but England responded soon after with Hammond crashing through for a try which George Barton converted.
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WATCH: England Rugby head coach Eddie Jones and fly half George Ford look ahead to Sunday’s Six Nations clash with Ireland.
The visitors had a try ruled out by the TMO for an earlier knock on, but they weren’t to be denied with Soroka bundling over in the corner after a period of sustained pressure.
Ireland had a second with Hyde going over after a fine offload moments earlier kept the ball in play and Crowley converted for 15-7.
A third followed through Ahern who crashed over as Ireland showed great patience to work their way through England’s defence and Ireland had a bonus point on the stroke of half time, with McIlroy crossing in the corner after a flowing team move.
Tizzard went over soon after the break but O’Reilly had a fifth Ireland try after searing down the left wing to cross.
“My contract is up with the RFU at the end of the season… but I’m fit as I have ever been – that’s what my scores tell me”
– veteran match official Wayne Barnes talks to @heagneyl ahead of his latest Six Nations assignment #WALvFRA 🏴🇫🇷https://t.co/R6KYLJ5svz— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 22, 2020
Dan bundled over off the back of a driving maul but Ahern’s try helped seal victory.
Head coach Alan Dickens said: “The performance wasn’t up to the standard of the previous two games. We were slow to start and even though we scored the first try we always seemed to be chasing the game once they took the lead.
“We didn’t slow their ball down, they played on the front foot and that put us under pressure defensively and we conceded some soft tries
“One of the big learnings will be to manage the game and to know when to play expansive rugby and when to control it. That will come with maturity and game understanding the more competitive fixtures we play.
“We have two games left in the tournament, we want to play well in those fixtures, continue to develop and hopefully finish with two victories. There were positives to take from tonight and we’ll focus on them and take it into the Wales game.”
Scorers
England U20 – Tries: Hammond, Tizzad, Dan Cons: Barton 3
Ireland U20s – Tries: Soroka, Hyde, Ahern 2, McIlroy, O’Reilly Cons: Crowley 2, Corkery Pens: Crowley
England men U20s side to face Ireland
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), 14. Gabriel Hamer-Webb (Bath Rugby), 13. Connor Doherty (Sale Sharks), 12. Charlie Watson (Saracens), 11. Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), 10. George Barton (Gloucester Rugby), 9. Sam Maunder (Exeter Chiefs) – captain, 1. Sam Crean (Saracens), 2. Theo Dan (Saracens), 3. Luke Green (London Irish), 4. Hugh Tizard (Harlequins), 5. George Hammond (Harlequins), 6. Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs), 7. Josh Gray (Gloucester Rugby), 8. Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs)
Replacements: 16. Ben Atkins (London Irish), 17. Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), 18. Harvey Beaton (Saracens), 19. Chunya Munga (London Irish), 20. Rob Farrar (Newcastle Falcons), 21. Blake Boyland (Bristol Bears), 22. Will Haydon-Wood (Newcastle Falcons), 23. Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby)
Ireland XV: 15. Oran McNulty, 14. Ethan McIlroy, 13. Dan Kelly, 12. Hayden Hyde, 11. Andrew Smith, 10. Jack Crowley, 9. Lewis Finlay, 1. Marcus Hanan, 2. John McKee, 3. Thomas Clarkson, 4. Thomas Ahern, 5. Brian Deeny, 6. Alex Soroka, 7. Sean O’Brien, 8. David McCann (C)
Replacements: 16. Tom Stewart, 17. Harry Noonan, 18. Charlie Ward, 19. Joe McCarthy, 20. Cian Prendergast, 21. Ben Murphy, 22. Tim Corkery, 23. Max O’Reilly.
Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Finlay Brown, Ross Mabon (both Scotland)
Comments on RugbyPass
Bold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to comments