France U20s 50-21 Ireland U20s
A tough 72 hours for Irish rugby was compounded in Perpignan on Saturday as Andrew Browne's Under-20s lost 50-21 to defending champions France in their Six Nations opener.
After defeats for Andy Farrell’s senior side in Paris on Thursday and a pummelling for the XV side at the hands of England 'A’ on Friday, Ireland were hoping to lift the gloom but despite a game effort hampered by a series of penalties and knock-ons, they were ultimately outclassed at Stade Amie Giral by a home side that ran in eight tries.
Ireland started brightly, spending the opening two minutes edging closer and closer to the French line through a series of carries, but Josh Neill conceded the penalty to let the hosts off the hook.
Those opening skirmishes were punctuated by a series of knock-ons from both sides but France did get over in the 12th minute, albeit at the third attempt.
Originally referee Christopher Allison awarded the hosts a try before ruling it out after mishearing his official on the line who had called for an offside penalty. That penalty was brilliantly held up by Johnny O’Sullivan as Tana Keletaona tried to power over; a short reprieve though as Adrien Drault scored after a beautiful crossfield pass from Luka Keletaona found Melvyn Rates who released the Bordeaux man for an easy finish.
Ireland take the lead in France – a brilliant block down by Josh Neill opens the door for Christopher Barrett.
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Ireland’s response was both instant and impressive and it owed much to a brilliant block down from Neill, who had the composure to find the onrushing Christopher Barrett to score – Tom Wood converting.
Ireland’s penalty count was hurting them though – seven conceded inside 24 minutes – and it was costing them territory and letting France get up the field. From one line-out deep inside the Irish half, France powered over the line with Drault applying the finishing touch.
Luka Keletaona’s movement as he prepared for a simple conversion was brilliantly spotted by Noah Byrne who kicked the ball away, but the out-half didn’t repeat the mistake two minutes later after Romeo Bonnard Martin busted through a number of green jerseys for France’s third try – a costly one with Diarmaid O’Connell yellow-carded for his attempts to disrupt.
Suddenly France were 17-7 ahead and it got even worse on the half-hour mark when glorious footwork from Rates bamboozled the Irish defence, the winger feeding Antoine Latrasse for France’s bonus-point try.
Ireland fought gamely and reduced the margin coming up to the break.
Camped inches from the French line – Dylan McNeice and Max Doyle amongst those trying to find the gap – they eventually were rewarded when Neill touched down, Wood with an easy conversion to leave it 24-14 in France’s favour.
A series of French line-outs close to the Irish line as the clock ticked red in the first half felt crucial – and it was a battle won by Les Blues with prop Matheo Frisach scoring their fifth try of the half as they left the field 31-14 ahead.
Frisach scored a minute before the break and thought he had a minute after the break too, but a long TMO check around the grounding eventually went in Ireland’s favour.
Boosted by that let off, Ireland nabbed their third try with Barrett grabbing his second. He had work to do to pick the ball off the deck and find a gap, but the half-back did brilliantly with Wood again accurate off the tee to bring the gap back to 10 points after 49 minutes.
France always had the tools to respond though and a good fetch from Baptiste Veschambre in the line-out set the scene for livewire Rates to sneak in on the shortside.
Christopher Barrett has his second try of the night as Ireland reduce the deficit to 10 points in France.
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The French replacements brought plenty of power of proceedings and one of those – Lucas Andjisseramatchi, who has already captained La Rochelle under Ronan O’Gara – spotted a gap in the Irish rear-guard to move France further ahead in the 63rd minute, 45-21.
Ireland’s pursuit of a bonus point ultimately left gaps at the back, James O’Leary’s yellow card after 70 minutes providing France with even more additional space, but incredible defending from the likes Derry Moloney, Ben Blaney and Byrne kept them at bay as the minutes ticked down.
France did have one last go at the Irish line as the clock moved past the 80-minute mark, and it was the excellent Veschambre who rounded off the scoring.
