Under-19 International/Ireland 6 England 47: It was the second day in succession that an Ireland underage side was thrashed by their English counterparts, the latest mauling taking place at Stradbrook on Saturday. There was much to admire from this young England team, particularly the fluency with which they attacked.
They mixed up their pods of runners cleverly, aided hugely by the fact that every player could handle the ball comfortably. The visiting pack dominated the forward exchanges, technically adept and buoyed by physical superiority while the backplay was slick, the angles taken clever and support runners there in abundance.
Ireland's defensive patterns were overwhelmed although they did contribute to their own problems by allowing their opponents to get outside them with ease.
The only area where Ireland achieved a modicum of possession was out of touch but the supply should have been even more plentiful from the 6ft 10 in Devin Toner: it wasn't the fault of the latter.
There really was precious little to enthuse about from an Irish perspective. Robert Kearney ran strongly from fullback, his former Clongowes team-mate Fergus McFadden Ireland's best performer behind the scrum while Max Rantz-McDonald did well after coming on as an early replacement.
The Irish pack tried hard but despite making some headway with the maul were largely obliterated at the breakdown.
Crescent's Barry O'Mahoney, a half-time replacement, produced an eye catching display during the second 35 minutes, culminating in one superb break. The Irish tackling was predominantly dreadful.
England though were full value for this success and could have had more than the seven tries they did score. They crossed the Irish line four times before the interval through Dominic Shabbo, strong running right wing Uche Oduoza, flanker Marc Howgate and number eight Jordan Crane.
Replacement wing Nick Abendanon would grab a brace and outhalf Daniel Cipriani also grabbed a try to add to the 12 points he scored with the boot.
Both teams head for the Under-19 World Cup in Durban, South Africa, next month but it is Ireland that will travel more in hope than expectation.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: Kearney penalty, 3-0; 10: Shabbo try, 3-5; Oduoza try, Cipriani conversion, 3-12; 32: Howgate try, 3-17; 35(+2): Crane try, 3-22. Half-time: 3-22. 36: Kearney penalty, 6-22; 56: Cipriani drop goal, 6-25; 63: Cipriani penalty, 6-28; 66: Abendanon try, Cipriani conversion, 6-35; 68: Cipriani try, 6-40; 71: Abendanon try. Cipriani conversion.
IRELAND: R Kearney (UCD); R Boles (Colston's College), F McFadden (Clongowes Wood College), Evan Ryan (UCC), D Black (Portadown); K Lett (UCD), M D'Arcy (Dublin University); G Walsh (UL Bohemians), G O'Meara (Lansdowne), K Griffin (Shannon); D McGowan (Buccaneers), D Toner (Lansdowne); D Twomey (Sundays Well), D Laffen (Dublin University), D Sherry (Ard Scoil Ris).
Replacements: M Rantz-McDonald (Mount Temple) for Black 14 mins; A Saunderson (Ballyclare) for Twomey 24 mins; B O'Mahoney (Crescent Comprehensive) for Laffan h-time; P Durcan (Roscrea) for Boles h-time; D Cave (Sullivan Upper School) for Lett 46 mins; C Black (Hartpury College) for Walsh 54 mins; K Moloney (Blackrock College RFC) for Griffin 54 mins; C Muldoon (Galwegians) for O'Meara 60 mins; G Cooney (Old Belvedere) for Kearney 68 mins; F Walsh (UCC) for Toner 68 mins.
ENGLAND: S Geraghty (London Irish); U Oduoza (Worcester), A Allen (Harlequins), T Youngs (Leicester), D Shabbo (London Irish); D Cipriani (Wasps), R Lamb (Gloucester); D Hartley (Worcester), C Brooker (Bath), A Ryan (Harlequins); J Inglis (Harlequins), A Rae (Worcester); A Boyde (Leeds), M Howgate (Leicester), J Crane (Leeds, capt).
Replacements: J Honeyben (Wasps) for Lamb 49 mins; D Barrell (Saracens) for Boyde 49 mins; N Abendanon (Bath) for Shabbo 56 mins; D Paul (Leeds) for Rogers 56 mins; A Powell (Saracens) for Allen 60 mins; A Jarvis (Bath) for Hartley 66 mins; R Webber (Leeds) for Brooker 66 mins.
Referee: D Huw (Wales).
