Ireland picked up their first win of the U20 Summer Series in dramatic circumstances last night, after Sam Prendergast's late penalty gave them a 37-36 win against England in Verona.
Richie Murphy's side came out on top on 10-try thriller to secure their first victory of the summer tournament, after being beaten by France and South Africa in previous weeks.
Out-half Prendergast - younger brother of Connacht flanker Cian - kicked 15 points in total, with his final penalty on 78 minutes giving Ireland a first win since their Six Nations Grand Slam earlier this year.
With an extensive injury list, Murphy's squad for this summer's tournament in Italy had been much-changed from the Grand Slam, with a 42-21 defeat to France followed by a 33-24 loss against South Africa last Wednesday.
And it looked like they would be heading towards a third defeat in a row when England scored two tries in the opening five minutes to lead 14-0.
However, tries for Fionn Gibbons, James McCormick, Lorcan McLoughlin and a penalty try saw Ireland move into a commanding 31-19 lead early in the second half.
A topsy-turvy game saw England score three second half tries to retake the lead at 36-34 with 10 minutes left, before the Leinster academy out-half sent a long range penalty between the posts to seal the win.
"It was a really weird game, wasn't it? We were 14-0 down early on and then put some really good stuff together to get up at half-time [28-19] which was very encouraging," said Murphy.
"We lost our way a bit in the second half, a few set piece penalties which put us under pressure and we then probably overplayed at our end which gave them access into our 22.
"With England having such a big pack, it’s hard to stop them getting over our line. But Sam then kicked a great penalty from the halfway line to get us home."
"We had a long range penalty kicker on the pitch as well in George Coomber, but Sam decided that he wanted it. He was obviously in the groove because he had been in the game.
"I'm sure the one he missed earlier on probably upset him. It was great to give Sam that opportunity and to be fair to him it never looked like it was going anywhere else.
"What people won’t realise was that it was going into a bit of a breeze as well. It was great for him.
"He’s an Under-19 out-half, he’s come in, he’s worked really hard and stepped up and filled a hole as our two first choice out-halves are both out injured at the moment."
Despite the win, Ireland had to contend themselves with finishing fourth in the pool, and will now face either Scotland or Georgia in their seventh place playoff next week.
