South Africa U20 12-31 Ireland U20
Ireland are through to the World Rugby U20 Championship final for just the second time, after an emphatic win against hosts South Africa at Athlone Stadium.
The Six Nations champions produced a patient and mature display to extend their unbeaten run to 11 games and book their place in the final of the junior World Cup for the first time since 2016.
Richie Murphy's side outclassed the Baby Boks in the second half, with Paddy and Gus McCarthy leading the way in a dominant scrum and maul, while Sam Prendergast put his kicking woes from earlier in the tournament well behind him, converting all four tries before landing a penalty late in the second half.
It wasn't just off the tee that Prendergast excelled, with the Leinster out-half dropping two glorious crossfield kicks into the hands of James Nicholson for Ireland's first and third tries, as No 8 Brian Gleeson and replacement centre Sam Berman crossed for further tries to see Ireland run out comfortable winners.
For head coach Richie Murphy, the most pleasing aspect of this win will be the composure shown by his side.
Ireland were a clear second best in the opening 40 minutes, struggling at the breakdown and inviting pressure on themselves with poor kicking from their own 22. However, their composure and patience in defence saw them constantly repel the South African attack, and Nicholson's first try just before the break gave them a psychological edge heading into half-time.
Nicholson's try on 37 minutes was just Ireland's second entry to the South African 22. Having been starved of possession courtesy of an aggressive South African defence, Ireland had to wait until the 33rd minute before their first real attacking opportunity.
It started when Ronan Foxe pulled off a big turnover in his own 22, before a second penalty followed shortly after. Ireland's maul went to work before they broke out to the openside, but Diarmuid Mangan's effort at reaching for the line was judged to be short after checking with the TMO.
Four minutes later, Ireland were back on the attack, and this time they made it count. Having laid the foundation with a lineout in the South African 22, Ireland were given advantage when the hosts drifted offside. With a risk-free attacking opportunity, Prendergast floated a delicate crossfield kick to Nicholson on the left touchline, and the wing outpaced the defence to dive over and score.
Prendergast's conversion gave Ireland an unlikely 7-0 lead, which they held until the break, Jean Smith's drop-goal attempt drifting wide with the final play of the half.
Normal service resumed after the break with South Africa dominating early on, but they twice missed opportunities to get on the scoreboard, Smith seeing a pair of penalties drift wide.
On 45 minutes they drew level when scrum-half Imad Khan ran in their first try, having been played in by winger Regan Izaks, and Smith's conversion tied it up at 7-7. From that moment, Ireland found new gears.
South Africa had been dealing well with Ireland's main ball-carrying threat Gleeson for much of the game, but when a clever lineout move created space for the Tipperary man to run into space, he barreled his way through the 22 to restore Ireland's lead on 50 minutes, with Prendergast converting under the posts to make it 14-7.
With their scrum and maul starting to dominate, and South Africa's pack clearly tiring, Ireland were well on top as the hour mark approached, and they landed the killer blow on 60 minutes when Prendergast and Nicholson once again connected to send the winger over for Ireland's third try, the conversion of which made it 21-7.
Berman (above) had played a big part in the third try, with his break into the 22 stretching the South African defence, and when he repeated the trick on 66 minutes he went all the way to the line, using the overlap on his right shoulder to dummy and break for the line.
Prendergast's kicking had been questioned early in the tournament, missing four off the tee in the opening draw against England, but his radar was on when it needed to be. He slotted Berman's conversion to make it 28-7, before maintaining his 100% record on 72 minutes with a penalty to push Ireland into an insurmountable 24-point lead.
There was time left for the hosts to put some respectability on the scoreline, and Coetzee le Roux's crossed for a late try. However, it was a tiny blip on Ireland's dominant second half, as they marched on to Friday's final (6pm Irish time) against France, who beat England 52-31 in the other semi-final.
South Africa U20: Hakeem Kunene; Jurenzo Julius, Katlego Letebele, Ethan Hooker, Michael Annies; Jean Smith, Imad Khan; Corné Lavagna, Juann Else, Dian Heunis; Coetzee le Roux, JF van Heerden; Paul de Villiers (capt), Ghudian van Reenen, Corné Beets.
Replacements: SJ Kotze, Phatu Ganyane, Zachary Porthen, Jannes Potgieter, Abulele Ndabambi, Asad Moos, Damian Markus, Regan Izaks.
Ireland U20: Henry McErlean; Andrew Osborne, Hugh Gavin, John Devine, James Nicholson; Sam Prendergast, Fintan Gunne; Paddy McCarthy, Gus McCarthy, Ronan Foxe; Charlie Irvine, Conor O'Tighearnaigh; Diarmuid Mangan, Ruadhan Quinn, Brian Gleeson.
Replacements: Danny Sheahan, George Hadden, Fiachna Barrett, Evan O'Connell, Dan Barron, Oscar Cawley, Matthew Lynch, Sam Berman.
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU)
