Ireland power past Scotland but denied U20 Six Nations title by England

Six Nations U20s Championship: Ireland 36 Scotland 0

Ireland fulfilled the first part of the remit with a bonus point victory over Scotland on the strength of a much-improved second half performance. However, England overcame France at the Stade du Hameau in Pau, working past a 21-12 half-time deficit to deny Ireland being crowned Six Nations champions for a third successive year.

It was far from a vintage display from Richie Murphy’s side and downright unfair on Scotland who showed a great deal of grit and spirit. Ireland scored four of their five tries in the final quarter of the game, two when the visitors were down a man, having initially led by just 7-0 at the interval.

Ireland relied on several brilliant contributions, with prop Alex Usanov, wing Hugo McLaughlin, Bryn Ward and captain and man of the match Evan O’Connell standouts in that capacity. O’Connell admitted: “That was an immense battle, the Scots came out firing in the first half, very physical, very strong.

“We definitely got back into the zone in the second half. The crowd gave us such a buzz, great energy, they were huge for us. It’s been amazing, a great group of lads and I am unbelievably proud of the group effort.”

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There was a harum-scarum looseness to Ireland’s play in the first 15 minutes; misplaced passes, players inadvertently blocking the passing channels, maul and breakdown issues with Scottish openside Freddie Douglas wreaking havoc with several turnovers at rucks.

Many of the home side’s issues were self-inflicted, players too upright and lacking footwork in contact while in defence there were also some glitches as Ireland were initially passive in terms of their line speed.

There were moments of individual excellence, a barnstorming run from Ward, a nice trick play at a lineout, and wings Hugo McLaughlin and Finn Treacy adding value every time they touched the ball. But the collective cohesion was lacking.

Ireland needed to understand the concept of the less haste more speed philosophy. Trying to play quickly relies on the integrity of the basics of the game being discharged accurately, on being nuanced rather than obvious in attack and appreciating where the space is and how to get the ball there.

The home side missed the sheer physical size of Alan Spicer both in the rucks and mauls but crucially in the scrum. When the Scots brought on Robbie Deans at loosehead it gave them a pronounced edge as they won three penalties in five scrums. Ireland were bullied physically for most of the first half.

Ireland secondrow Joe Hopes was held up short of the line after a clever trick play at a lineout and it would be just after the 20-minute mark before the home side gave the capacity crowd something to cheer about.

Jack Murphy’s up-and-under was dropped by Scotland fullback Jack Brown, Sean Edogbo collected the loose ball and when the Irish attack swung back the other way, Evan O’Connell and Henry Walker got the ball to Ward, who did superbly to take out two tacklers and give McLaughlin a try scoring opportunity, which the wing converted.

Murphy’s touchline conversion was a beauty. It should have allowed them to settle but it didn’t. McLaughlin’s brilliant chip and chase set him free but after evading Brown and taking play deep into the Scottish half, he slipped while looking for support.

Emboldened by their defensive effort, the visitors finally worked their way into the Irish 22 by virtue of a couple of scrum penalties and once there, they earned another; this time on the Irish put-in. There is an argument that Deans was driving in on an angle, but referee Takahito Namekawa didn’t think so.

Crucially, though, Irish loosehead Alex Usanov won a penalty from the ensuing scrum, the explosion of noise from the stands a mixture of relief and encouragement. Ireland did get one more scoring chance before the interval but once again the maul lacked dynamism and Douglas won a turnover at a subsequent breakdown.

The home side needed a smart start to the second half to quickly improve on that 7-0 lead but spurned a certain try when McLaughlin’s pass to Walker was poorly judged following good work from Hugh Gavin.

A recurring theme for Ireland apart from the basic handling mistakes was that they were passing for the sake of it, rather than committing defenders and that when they did manufacture a breach, which Wilhelm de Klerk and Ward did on several occasions, the ball carrier lacked support.

Ireland’s replacement tighthead prop Patreece Bell won a scrum penalty, O’Connell, Usanov and Gavin began to get more touches in a positive manner, but the opportunities slipped away, the maul not getting the traction and ball carriers getting isolated.

Murphy kicked a penalty, Gavin departed injured before O’Connell soothed some of the frayed nerves with a powerful finish from close range for a try to nudge Ireland out to 15-0. Replacement hooker Danny Sheahan scored his fourth try of the tournament from a lineout maul that carried proper menace.

This bonus point try arrived with four minutes to spare, the industrious Edogbo with a powerful finish from a second tap penalty and then Sheahan’s second try with the match clock in the red was harsh in the extreme on a gallant Scotland effort.

Scoring sequence - 20 mins: McLaughlin try, J Murphy conversion, 7-0. Half-time: 7-0. 50: Murphy penalty, 10-0; 59: O’Connell try, 15-0; 70: Sheahan try, Murphy conversion 22-0; 76: Edogbo try, Murphy conversion, 29-0; 80 (+2): Sheahan try, Murphy conversion, 36-0.

Ireland: B O’Connor (UCC); F Treacy (Galwegians), W de Klerk (UCD), H Gavin (Galwegians), H McLaughlin (Lansdowne); J Murphy (Clontarf), Coffey (Blackrock College); A Usanov (Clontarf), H Walker (QUB), J Boyd (QUB); E O’Connell (UL Bohemian, capt), J Hopes (QUB); S Edogbo (UCC), B Ward (Ballynahinch), L Murphy (Shannon).

Replacements: J McKillop (QUB) for L Murphy (44 mins), P Bell (Sale Sharks) for Boyd (48 mins), D Colbert (Dublin University) for Gavin (56 mins), B Corrigan (Old Wesley) for Ward (63 mins), D Sheahan (Cork Constitution) for Walker (63 mins), B Howard (Terenure College) for Usanov (65 mins), S Naughton (Galway Corinthians) for de Klerk (71 mins), T Brophy (Naas) for Coffey (74 mins).

Scotland: J Brown; Finlay Doyle, J Ventisei, F Thomson, G Gwynn (co capt); I Coates, H Patterson; C Smyth, J Blyth-Lafferty, C Norrie; E McVie, R Hart (co capt); J Morris, Freddy Douglas, T Currie.

Replacements: R Deans for Smyth (24 mins), E Davey for Patterson (60 mins), Finn Douglas for Brown (60 mins), A Clarke for McVie (63 mins), M Job for Coates (63 mins), M Yule for Thomson (63 mins), R Whitefield for Norrie (66 mins), M Brogan for Blyth-Lafferty (66 mins).

Referee: Takahito Namekawa (Japan)

Yellow card: M Job (Scotland) 65 mins.