THIS WAS A shambolic affair at times as injuries disrupted Ireland A on a miserable afternoon against their English counterparts in Bristol.
While those setbacks clearly played a part and the wet, windy weather hindered both teams, this Irish side will surely be frustrated not to have made a better fist of their chance in the green jersey.
Rain fell all morning in Bristol and intensified during a scrappy, error-strewn game at Ashton Gate, where the crowd included Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby, and IRFU performance director David Humphreys.
They would have hoped to see more from an exciting young Irish selection but Mike Prendergast’s A side made too many errors and had to deal with upheaval caused by injuries.
Hooker Diarmuid Barron was gone with a head injury six minutes in, his Munster team-mate Shane Daly followed soon after with a bad-looking hamstring injury, then Daly’s replacement, Harry Byrne, lasted just five minutes before suffering a head injury.
Shane Daly suffered a worrying hamstring injury. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Ciarán Frawley had shifted to fullback after Daly’s injury, so quickly moved back to out-half but he too was forced off with a head injury in the second half on a day when Ireland had gone with a 6/2 bench. After scrum-half Fintan Gunne filled in on the wing in the first half, captain and back row Max Deegan shifted there for the last 25 minutes. Ireland even had to replace sub tighthead Oli Jager late on.
In truth, the English could have won this game by a bigger margin but they weren’t able to convert a large number of visits into the Irish 22, where Prendergast’s men did show some steel to earn turnovers. Still, the home side nabbed four tries.
Ireland wing Shayne Bolton finished a slick try in the first half but they were a clear second-best thereafter and centre Hugh Gavin’s score late on was of the consolation variety.
Connacht centre Gavin was the pick of the Irish players, Jack Aungier had a strong game at tighthead, Tom O’Toole showed encouraging signs at loosehead, and Jude Postlethwaite also did well in midfield.
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But several others will feel this was a missed opportunity to impress ahead of the senior Ireland tour to Georgia and Portugal this summer.
Joe Carpenter is tackled by Nathan Doak. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Ireland nearly got an ideal start when Aungier’s scrum penalty win allowed them into English territory but Sean Jansen and O’Toole were held up over the tryline in quick succession, the latter coming very close to grounding the ball.
Instead, it was England who opened the scoring in the 13th minute as slick handling allowed wing Ollie Hassell-Collins to finish a powerful passage of phase play, with out-half Charlie Atkinson converting.
Ireland responded well as Alex Kendellen’s breakdown poach sent them into the English 22 where deft passes from centre Jude Postlethwaite and out-half Frawley gave skipper Max Deegan time to conjure an excellent 20-metre pass wide left for wing Shayne Bolton to score.
But Ireland continued to call on big defensive plays to keep them in the fight in the first half – O’Toole and Nathan Doak won breakdown turnovers, Darragh Murray earned a strip turnover, Postlethwaite and Gavin combined for a choke tackle, and captain Deegan and Murray stole English lineouts – and they cracked again after 24 minutes.
With Byrne down, England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet sniped between O’Toole and Jansen for a break from his own 10-metre line then rounded Frawley for a pacy finish that Atkinson converted for a 14-5 lead they carried into half time.
Hugh Gavin carries for Ireland A. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The home side were straight back on the front doot upon the restart as Ireland struggled to deal with their kicking, as well as seeing two of replacement hooker Stephen Smyth’s throws called as crooked, with a scrum penalty going against them too.
But Ireland held firm as firstly, Aungier won a scrum penalty on their five-metre metre line, secondly, O’Toole helped force a close-range knock on from England’s Hugh Tizard, thirdly, Gavin earned a breakdown turnover penalty, and fourthly Bolton made a superb tackle to deny English centre Max Ojomoh and allow a turnover near the Irish tryline.
With the rain now lashing down, the chaos continued as Frawley was forced off in the 55th minute, ensuring Deegan went to the left wing in yet another rejig for Ireland.
And it was the Irish captain whose excellent kick chase forced an English knock on to finally give Ireland a foothold in their half.
Ireland soon earned a five-metre maul for themselves with 15 minutes left but their major lineout failings continued as they failed to get a jumper off the ground. England replacement wing George Hendy had a breakaway score ruled out – the second time England correctly had a try chalked off.
Ciaran Frawley is tackled. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The scrum tide was firmly against Ireland and they eventually left English territory with nothing, soon having to hold the home team up over their tryline by Postlethwaite as England once again failed to finish from close range.
But they finally sealed the deal in the 74th minute as replacement back row Greg Fisilau burst through and stepped around Tommy O’Brien to finish a try that Jamie Shillcock converted.
And it all ended in misery for Ireland as Deegan was yellow carded for the deliberate knock on that saw England rewarded a penalty try.
England A scorers:
Tries: Ollie Hassell-Collins, Jack van Poortvliet, Greg Fisilau, penalty try
Conversion: Charlie Atkinson [2 from 2], Jamie Shillcock [1 from 1]
Ireland A scorers:
Tries: Shayne Bolton, Hugh Gavin
Conversion: Ciarán Frawley [0 from 1], Nathan Doak [1 from 1]
ENGLAND A: Joe Carpenter; Tobias Elliott (George Hendy ’49), Max Ojomoh, Will Butt, Ollie Hassell-Collins; Charlie Atkinson (Jamie Shillcock ’59), Jack van Poortvliet (captain) (Will Porter ’67); Phil Brantingham (Tarek Haffar ’49), Curtis Langdon (Gabriel Oghre ’49), George Kloska (Luke Green ’49); Hugh Tizard (Richard Capstick ’58), Tom Lockett; Tom Pearson, Jack Kenningham, Alfie Barbeary (HIA – Greg Fisilau ’28 to ’36, permanent ’58).
IRELAND A: Shane Daly (Harry Byrne ’21 (Fintan Gunne ’27) ); Tommy O’Brien, Jude Postlethwaite, Hugh Gavin, Shayne Bolton; Ciarán Frawley (HIA – Brian Gleeson ’55), Nathan Doak; Tom O’Toole (Paddy McCarthy ’55), Diarmuid Barron (Stephen Smyth ’6), Jack Aungier (Oli Jager ’45, reversal ’70); Evan O’Connell (Conor O’Tighearnaigh ’45), Darragh Murray; Max Deegan (captain), Alex Kendellen, Sean Jansen (Alex Soroka ’70).
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Ireland A second best on miserable day against England
England A 28
Ireland A 12
THIS WAS A shambolic affair at times as injuries disrupted Ireland A on a miserable afternoon against their English counterparts in Bristol.
While those setbacks clearly played a part and the wet, windy weather hindered both teams, this Irish side will surely be frustrated not to have made a better fist of their chance in the green jersey.
Rain fell all morning in Bristol and intensified during a scrappy, error-strewn game at Ashton Gate, where the crowd included Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby, and IRFU performance director David Humphreys.
They would have hoped to see more from an exciting young Irish selection but Mike Prendergast’s A side made too many errors and had to deal with upheaval caused by injuries.
Hooker Diarmuid Barron was gone with a head injury six minutes in, his Munster team-mate Shane Daly followed soon after with a bad-looking hamstring injury, then Daly’s replacement, Harry Byrne, lasted just five minutes before suffering a head injury.
Ciarán Frawley had shifted to fullback after Daly’s injury, so quickly moved back to out-half but he too was forced off with a head injury in the second half on a day when Ireland had gone with a 6/2 bench. After scrum-half Fintan Gunne filled in on the wing in the first half, captain and back row Max Deegan shifted there for the last 25 minutes. Ireland even had to replace sub tighthead Oli Jager late on.
In truth, the English could have won this game by a bigger margin but they weren’t able to convert a large number of visits into the Irish 22, where Prendergast’s men did show some steel to earn turnovers. Still, the home side nabbed four tries.
Ireland wing Shayne Bolton finished a slick try in the first half but they were a clear second-best thereafter and centre Hugh Gavin’s score late on was of the consolation variety.
Connacht centre Gavin was the pick of the Irish players, Jack Aungier had a strong game at tighthead, Tom O’Toole showed encouraging signs at loosehead, and Jude Postlethwaite also did well in midfield.
But several others will feel this was a missed opportunity to impress ahead of the senior Ireland tour to Georgia and Portugal this summer.
Ireland nearly got an ideal start when Aungier’s scrum penalty win allowed them into English territory but Sean Jansen and O’Toole were held up over the tryline in quick succession, the latter coming very close to grounding the ball.
Instead, it was England who opened the scoring in the 13th minute as slick handling allowed wing Ollie Hassell-Collins to finish a powerful passage of phase play, with out-half Charlie Atkinson converting.
Ireland responded well as Alex Kendellen’s breakdown poach sent them into the English 22 where deft passes from centre Jude Postlethwaite and out-half Frawley gave skipper Max Deegan time to conjure an excellent 20-metre pass wide left for wing Shayne Bolton to score.
But Ireland continued to call on big defensive plays to keep them in the fight in the first half – O’Toole and Nathan Doak won breakdown turnovers, Darragh Murray earned a strip turnover, Postlethwaite and Gavin combined for a choke tackle, and captain Deegan and Murray stole English lineouts – and they cracked again after 24 minutes.
With Byrne down, England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet sniped between O’Toole and Jansen for a break from his own 10-metre line then rounded Frawley for a pacy finish that Atkinson converted for a 14-5 lead they carried into half time.
The home side were straight back on the front doot upon the restart as Ireland struggled to deal with their kicking, as well as seeing two of replacement hooker Stephen Smyth’s throws called as crooked, with a scrum penalty going against them too.
But Ireland held firm as firstly, Aungier won a scrum penalty on their five-metre metre line, secondly, O’Toole helped force a close-range knock on from England’s Hugh Tizard, thirdly, Gavin earned a breakdown turnover penalty, and fourthly Bolton made a superb tackle to deny English centre Max Ojomoh and allow a turnover near the Irish tryline.
With the rain now lashing down, the chaos continued as Frawley was forced off in the 55th minute, ensuring Deegan went to the left wing in yet another rejig for Ireland.
And it was the Irish captain whose excellent kick chase forced an English knock on to finally give Ireland a foothold in their half.
Ireland soon earned a five-metre maul for themselves with 15 minutes left but their major lineout failings continued as they failed to get a jumper off the ground. England replacement wing George Hendy had a breakaway score ruled out – the second time England correctly had a try chalked off.
The scrum tide was firmly against Ireland and they eventually left English territory with nothing, soon having to hold the home team up over their tryline by Postlethwaite as England once again failed to finish from close range.
But they finally sealed the deal in the 74th minute as replacement back row Greg Fisilau burst through and stepped around Tommy O’Brien to finish a try that Jamie Shillcock converted.
And it all ended in misery for Ireland as Deegan was yellow carded for the deliberate knock on that saw England rewarded a penalty try.
England A scorers:
Tries: Ollie Hassell-Collins, Jack van Poortvliet, Greg Fisilau, penalty try
Conversion: Charlie Atkinson [2 from 2], Jamie Shillcock [1 from 1]
Ireland A scorers:
Tries: Shayne Bolton, Hugh Gavin
Conversion: Ciarán Frawley [0 from 1], Nathan Doak [1 from 1]
ENGLAND A: Joe Carpenter; Tobias Elliott (George Hendy ’49), Max Ojomoh, Will Butt, Ollie Hassell-Collins; Charlie Atkinson (Jamie Shillcock ’59), Jack van Poortvliet (captain) (Will Porter ’67); Phil Brantingham (Tarek Haffar ’49), Curtis Langdon (Gabriel Oghre ’49), George Kloska (Luke Green ’49); Hugh Tizard (Richard Capstick ’58), Tom Lockett; Tom Pearson, Jack Kenningham, Alfie Barbeary (HIA – Greg Fisilau ’28 to ’36, permanent ’58).
IRELAND A: Shane Daly (Harry Byrne ’21 (Fintan Gunne ’27) ); Tommy O’Brien, Jude Postlethwaite, Hugh Gavin, Shayne Bolton; Ciarán Frawley (HIA – Brian Gleeson ’55), Nathan Doak; Tom O’Toole (Paddy McCarthy ’55), Diarmuid Barron (Stephen Smyth ’6), Jack Aungier (Oli Jager ’45, reversal ’70); Evan O’Connell (Conor O’Tighearnaigh ’45), Darragh Murray; Max Deegan (captain), Alex Kendellen, Sean Jansen (Alex Soroka ’70).
Referee: Ben Breakspear [Wales].
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Ashton Gate Bristol England A ireland a Report Tough Times