Ireland 53 Wales 5

Ireland made the perfect start to this year's U20 Six Nations Championship with a record-breaking 53-5 win against Wales at Musgrave Park.

Richie Murphy's side ran in eight tries in total, three in the opening half before adding five more after the break, to go top of the table after the opening round of matches.

Leinster's James Culhane dominated Wales with the ball in hand, carrying 14 times for 148 metres, while hitting double figures in tackles.

However, the UCD man wasn't one of the seven try scorers, with Bristol's Chay Mullins scoring twice, with one apiece for James McCormick, Matthew Devine, Mark Morrissey, Reuben Crothers, Ben Brownlee and James McNabney.

Ireland set the tempo right from the first whistle, winning three penalties inside the opening three minutes before Leinster out-half Charlie Tector settled for a shot at goal to give the hosts an early 3-0 lead.

But they didn't have to wait long for their opening try, Mullins skipping inside the covering Welsh defenders to dive over on 14 minutes, after Munster full-back Patrick Campbell had found the edge of the Welsh defence.

Wales were struggling with their discipline, and after repeated penalties Oli Andrew was yellow carded, with Ireland taking advantage of the extra man, Connacht scrum-half Matthew Devine finding the defence asleep at the back of a messy lineout. Tector added the extras to make it 15-0.

It was all Ireland in the opening half, and two trips to the TMO saw them denied their third try; first when captain Reuben Crothers was held up over the line, before a try for Mullins was pulled back after obstruction in the build-up.

Eventually their persistence paid when second row Mark Morrissey - one of four survivors from the 2021 vintage - went over from close range after McCormick had been stopped just short, with Tector's conversion making it 22-0 at the break.

Getting a bonus point was the job for the second half, and it was complete inside two minutes, Crothers burrowing over after a series of pick-and-jam efforts.

Three minutes later, his Ulster teammate James McNabney grabbed Ireland's fifth, again a short drive to the line after Ireland's dominant maul had brought into striking range.

Tector's conversion was wide, but Ireland's lead was now 34-0 with the second half barely five minutes old.

The game was over as a contest, but Murphy's side looked ruthless as they chased more tries, Mullins taking a beautiful angled line against the grain to run in for his second score and Ireland's fifth on 51 minutes, before hooker McCormick deservedly got in on the act with a try on the hour mark, as the scoreboard ticked up to 46-0.

With the game long-since being finished as a contest, the visitors finally got something for their troubles when Andrew, sin-binned in the opening half, finished off a lovely first phase move from a quick penalty, but right on the full time Ireland hit the half-century mark with centre Ben Brownlee crashing over.

Munster's Tony Butler kicked the conversion making it 53-5, a record win for Ireland against their neighbours at U20 level.

Ireland U20: Patrick Campbell; Chay Mullins, Fionn Gibbons, Ben Brownlee, Shane Mallon; Charlie Tector, Matthew Devine; Jack Boyle, James McCormick, Scott Wilson; Conor O'Tighearnaigh, Mark Morrissey; James McNabney, Reuben Crothers (Capt), James Culhane.

Replacements: Josh Hanlon, Oisin Michel, Rory McGuire, Adam McNamee, Ronan O'Sullivan, Ethan Coughlan, Tony Butler, Aitzol King

Wales U20: Cameron Winnett; Harri Houston, Bryn Bradley, Eddie James, Oli Andrew; Daniel Edwards, Harri Williams; Joe Cowell, Efan Daniel, Nathan Evans; Joe Peard, Lewis Jones; Alex Mann (Capt), Ethan Fackrell, Ben Moa

Replacements: Morgan Veness, Rhys Barratt, Ellis Fackrell, Benji Williams,, Tom Cowan, Morgan Lloyd, Jac Lloyd, Joe Hawkins

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Follow all of Ireland's Six Nations games via our live blogs on rte.ie/sport and on the RTÉ News App or listen to live radio coverage on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch live TV coverage of Ireland v Wales (5 February, 2.15pm) and England v Ireland (12 March, 4.45pm) on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player.