Scotland U-20s 17-10 Ireland U-20s
The Ireland Under-20s fell to their third defeat on the trot as they ended their Six Nations campaign with a loss to Scotland at Netherdale.
Two maul tries from captain Magnus Bradbury and Lewis Carmichael made it 12-0 to Scotland early on.
Stephen Fitzgerald, Ireland's most dangerous runner, ran in a classy try to add to a Ross Byrne penalty. But with David O'Connor in the sin-bin, the Scots sealed the win thanks to a second maul effort from lock Carmichael.
The Irish pack, who included late front row call-ups Michael Lagan and Adam McBurney, were unable to match the Scots' strength in the scrum and were undone by the hosts' skill and power in the driving maul; all three of their tries came from driven line-outs.
Behind the scrum Ireland looked much the better of the two back divisions but even so they were unable to break down a determined Scotland defence.
Ireland put themselves under pressure straight from the kick-off after captain Nick McCarthy knocked on deep inside his ’22. Scotland took advantage first by attacking off the ensuing scrum and then driving a penalty lineout in the second minute, giving skipper Bradbury the opening try, converted by scrum half George Horne.
The Irish threatened when the fleet-footed Fitzgerald cut through in midfield but a brave tackle by Rory Hutchinson stopped the move. There was further disappointment for the visitors when Byrne failed with a 40-metre penalty attempt - but not for Scotland as a second driven lineout produced a try for Carmichael.
If Ireland's talents had been suppressed by Scotland's aggressive defence and forward power, then perceptions changed with a fine score by Fitzgerald, the left winger finishing off clever handling from the back-line with Byrne, centre Gary Ringrose and right winger Ciaran Gaffney key players in the move.
Byrne's conversion, adding to an earlier penalty, brought Nigel Carolan's side back to within two points of Scotland. However, they were unable to make any further dents leaving the scoreline at 12-10 at the interval.
Ireland looked much more purposeful in the second half but against a Scottish pack that always caused problems for the Irish eight, they failed to add to their points tally, the nearest they came to a try being a short range effort by Ulster-capped centre Sam Arnold.
Thereafter Scotland reasserted themselves and after coming close to scoring from a surge by Bradbury, Ireland lock O'Connor was adjudged to have illegally stopped quick recycling of the ball, earning himself a yellow card.
From the resulting penalty-created lineout, Scotland used their one-man advantage to drive over for their third try of the night, claimed by Carmichael, to make certain of third spot in the table - their highest ever finish in the Under-20 Championship.
SCOTLAND U-20: Ruairi Howarth (Edinburgh/Gala); Ben Robbins (Edinburgh/Watsonians), Tom Galbraith (Melrose), Patrick Kelly (Le Parc), Alec Coombes (London Scottish); Rory Huthchinson (Northampton Saints), George Horne (Glasgow Hawks); Murray McCallum (Aberdeen Grammar), Sam James (Wasps), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks), Lewis Carmichael (Melrose), Neil Irvine-Hess (Melrose), Ally Miller (Edinburgh/Watsonians), Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh/Boroughmuir) (Capt).
Replacements: Ross Graham (Hawick), Dan Elkington (Watsonians), Gary Robertson (Gala), Andrew Davidson (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks), Ruairi Knott (Melrose), Ben Vellacott (Gloucester/Hartpury College), Archie Russell (Stirling County), Richard Galloway (Birmingham University).
IRELAND U-20: Billy Dardis (UCD/Leinster); Ciaran Gaffney (Galwegians/Connacht), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Sam Arnold (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Stephen Fitzgerald (Shannon/Munster); Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster), Nick McCarthy (UCD/Leinster) (capt); Michael Lagan (Ballymena/Ulster), Zack McCall (Queen's University Belfast/Ulster), Conan O'Donnell (Sligo/NUIG/Connacht), David O'Connor (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Alex Thompson (Queen's University Belfast/Ulster), Josh Murphy (UCD/Leinster), Nick Timoney (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Lorcan Dow (Queen's University Belfast/Ulster).
Replacements: Adam McBurney (Ballymena/Ulster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Oisin Heffernan (Terenure College/Leinster), Jack Dwan (UCD/Leinster), Stephen McVeigh (Buccaneers/Connacht), Connor Young (Queen's University Belfast/Ulster), Joey Carbery (UCD/Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Queen's University Belfast/Ulster).
Referee: Thomas Foley (England)
Full report to follow
