English pressure pays off

Squandered chances in the opening 20 minutes saw this game trail away from the Irish Universities at College Park yesterday. Up against a heavier English pack, resistance was bound to wilt as the game went on and the scoreless first half swung from a feisty phase of Irish domination to slow-burning English pressure pocked with some poor place-kicking.

Scoring sequence: 46 mins: N Ashley try, N Booth conversion 7-0; 53: N Booth penalty 010; 55: M McHugh penalty 3-10; 64: M Powell try, N Both conversion 3-17; 77: P Graham try 322; 78: T Cahill try 8-22.

Irish Universities: P Bredin (UCD); S Doggett (UCD), P Barry (UCC), S Moore (UCD), D Holt (UCC); M McHugh (DU), C Curneen (DU); J Lane (UCD), G Flannery (UCC), R McCormack (UCD), J Smith (UCD), C Keane (UCD), J Shine (UCD), G Cantwell (UCD capt.), W Robb (DU). Replacements: T Cahill (UCC) for Smith (43 mins); A Kearney (UCD) for Bredin (51 mins); L Twomey (UCC) for W Robb, R Wallace (DU) for S Moore (57 mins); K Murphy (DU) for J Lane (68 mins); A Bainbridge (UCD) for C Curneen (69 mins); G Murray (UCC) for Flannery (78 mins).

English Universities: J Fabian (Exeter); N Booth (Oxford), N Ashley (Oxford), C Davis (WLI Brunel), A Bidwell (Cambridge); S Ward (Cheltenham and Gloucester), M Powell (WLI Brunel); A Collins (Oxford), R Protherough (Loughborough), T Payne (Liverpool John Moore's), T Butler (Royal Vets), J Winterbottom (St Mary's College), H Whitford (Cambridge), P Volley (WLI Brunel capt.), M Challender (Oxford). Replacements: A Beat- tie (Exeter) for Fabian, P Graham (Liverpool John Moore's) for Challender (67 mins); S Barry (Oxford) for Powell (76 mins).

Referee: M McHugh (Ulster).