EMERGING IRELAND SCORED seven tries as they beat Uruguay 51-3 at the IRB Nations Cup in Bucharest this afternoon.
Craig Gilroy, Mick Kearney, Paddy Butler [2], Billy Holland and Paul Marshall all crossed the whitewash, while referee Marius Mitrea also awarded Dan McFarland’s side a penalty try in the second half.
Ireland were dominant throughout against a poor Uruguay team, backing up the 66-0 routing of Russia in 45 minutes last Friday to make it two bonus-point wins from two games at the Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf-based tournament.
A win over Romania in Sunday’s third and final fixture [KO 5.00pm Irish time] would see Emerging Ireland claim trophy success.
Gilroy opened the scoring against Uruguay in the 7th minute, getting on the end of a clever grubber kick from JJ Hanrahan, with the Munster out-half converting the try from out on the left.
Hanrahan added a penalty shortly after, before Connacht lock Mick Kearney benefited from excellent Robin Copeland – on for the injured Sean Dougall – and Tommy O’Donnell offloads to cross for Ireland’s second try.
Impressive 21-year-old Hanrahan converted Kearney’s score, but was wide of the mark after Butler got in on the fun just before half time, touching down at the tail of a powerful maul that will have pleased McFarland, current forwards coach at Connacht.
Hard-working Munster No. 8 Butler got his second after the interval, scoring 11 minutes into the second half at the back of an Irish scrum that drove over from five metres out. Hanrahan re-found the sweet spot off the tee to add the extras.
The scrum delivered again for Ireland’s next score, with Mitrea awarding a penalty try after the Uruguayans failed to deal with the onslaught from the Irish. That allowed Hanrahan a simple conversion from underneath the posts.
Replacement scrum half Marshall was a lively presence with his sniping runs, and the Ulster man combined with Butler to create Holland’s 66th-minute try. The offload from Butler was perfect, as Hanrahan again converted.
Marshall deservedly got his name on the score-sheet with a late try after captain Johne Murphy intelligently took a quick line-out close to the Uruguay tryline, before substitute Ian Keatley rounded off Ireland’s scoring with an injury-time penalty.
Ireland scorers:
Tries: C Gilroy, M Kearney, P Butler [2], B Holland, P Marshall, Penalty try
Conversions: JJ Hanrahan [5]
Penalties: JJ Hanrahan, I Keatley
Uruguay scorers:
Penalty: J Prada
Emerging Ireland: Craig Gilroy; Johne Murphy (capt.), Brendan Macken, Eoin Griffin, Michael Allen; JJ Hanrahan, Luke McGrath; John Ryan, Bryan Byrne, Ricky Lutton; Mick Kearney, Billy Holland; Tommy O’Donnell, Sean Dougall, Paddy Butler.
Replacements: James Tracy, Callum Black, David Foley, Robin Copeland, Paul Marshall, Ian Keatley, Andrew Conway.
Uruguay: Jerónimo Etcheverry; Gastón Gibernau, Federico Favaro, Pedro Deal, Joaquín Prada (capt.); Rodrigo Silva, Alejo Durán; Mateo Sanguinetti, Carlos Arboleya, Juan Echeverría; Cristofer Soares De Lima, Matías Beer; Agustín Alonso, Fernando Bascou, Mathías Braun.
Replacements: Nicolás Klalppenbach, Oscar Durán, Franco Lamanna, Alejandro Nieto, Juan De Freitas, Guillermo Lijtenstein, Alberto Román.
Referee: Marius Mitrea.
