Ireland U20s 38-41 Wales U20s
Ireland Under-20s fell just short of recording a stunning comeback as Wales held on for a 41-38 win at Donnybrook.
Coming into the game on the back of a narrow win over Italy, Noel McNamara’s side gave themselves an uphill battle by conceding early tries to winger Tommy Rogers and lock Max Williams.
Wales U20s took a deserved early lead against Ireland in Donnybrook #rterugby pic.twitter.com/Dwh2og4pw4
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) February 23, 2018
A Harry Byrne penalty got Ireland on the scoreboard but James Botham, a grandson of famous former cricketer Ian, got the first of a brace halfway through the first half to give the visitors a 19-3 lead.
Ireland’s performance to that point had been filled with basic errors with Angus Curtis the only positive.
And it was the centre who got Ireland up and running when his classy finish reduced the margin to nine points at the break.
Can Ireland U20s stage a comeback? Angus Curtis gets on the scoresheet #rterugby pic.twitter.com/Dgms4jb19j
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) February 23, 2018
But that score was cancelled out almost immediately after the restart when Wales skipper Tommy Reffell sprinted free.
Ireland number 8 Jack O’Sullivan, in a man of the match performance, struck twice between the 47th and the 56th minutes but both times those tries were followed up by Welsh five-pointers, by Botham and Callum Carson, as the game turned into a try-fest.
When scrum-half Johnny Stewart secured Ireland’s bonus point to make it 38-31 there were still 16 minutes left.
However, once again Ireland made a mess of the restart and when Wales won a penalty off a scrum, Cai Evans, son of Wales legend Ieuan, made it an 10-point game.
There was still time for captain Tommy O’Brien to score the try of the game but Wales held on to record their second win of the campaign and put Ireland out of the running.
StunninStunning Tommy O'Brien try as Ireland U20s close in on Wales #rterugby pic.twitter.com/sN6NabTTJB
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) February 23, 2018
Speaking to RTÉ Sport after the game, head coach McNamara said: "[The] overriding feeling is a huge sense of frustration
"There was large parts of that game where will caused Wales huge problems for. We scored some smashing tries.
"Unfortunately you can’t give away some of the tries that we did.
"We paid a heavy price for those lapses of concentration."
