IRELAND U20 COACH Richie Murphy commended his players’ grit and composure after they secured an important bonus-point try in the dying moments against Australia on Thursday.
Ireland scored six tries against England in the opening round of the World Rugby U20 Championship. A series of late lapses, however, cost them a big lead in that fixture, and they had to be content with a 34-34 draw.
As a result, Ireland went into their next game against Australia needing a win to improve their standing in Pool B. Despite the wet conditions at the Paarl Gymnasium sports fields, Murphy’s charges produced a powerful and clinical performance, and clinched the all-important fourth try at the death.
“We probably should have got that bonus point a little bit earlier,” Murphy said afterwards.
“We had a few chances, but didn’t quite get over. We showed great character and great grit to eventually finish it off.
“That result gives us five points, and eight overall in the standings. It puts us in a really good position going into the last game against Fiji.”
Captain Gus McCarthy watched the final moments of the game from the sideline. When replacement Diarmund Mangan scored the fourth try, the Ireland players celebrated wildly.
“That bonus point was huge at the end,” McCarthy said.
“I was very nervous on the sideline there for the last five minutes. I think we got held up twice, so that would have been tough to come away from the game without a bonus point. That fourth try is going to be really, really huge for us going forward, and we’re absolutely delighted.”
Ireland were forced to adjust their tactics to allow for the conditions. Murphy praised the performance of the pack, and of halfbacks Fintan Gunne and Sam Prendergast.
“It was obviously a really difficult day to play rugby. The pitch was extremely heavy, so it made it very difficult.
“I suppose the team that manages the field position is going to come out on top. Our forwards got the edge in the second half through the scrum and the maul. It was just a case of a couple of phases and trying to get the ball back into the corner.
“So I thought we managed that really well, showed some good maturity in our game. Fintan and Sam controlled the game quite well, found little bits of spaces and obviously created some good high-ball opportunities which were well contested. We didn’t give Australia much room to play.
“I think our scrum was dominant all the way through,” Murphy added.
“Early on we probably gave away a few too many penalties. And the other thing that we were doing in the first half was trying to play too much rugby.”
Ireland also showed a lot of fight at the breakdown, with the back row combining to produce an influential showing.
“[No 8] Brian Gleeson was excellent,” said Murphy.
“We’re lucky to have so many good back rowers over here at the moment. It’s just an embarrassment of riches at this particular age group in Irish Rugby, so we’re in a really good place now.”
Murphy said that Ireland would prefer to play their final match against Fiji in dry conditions – despite the islanders’ reputation for expansive rugby.
More rain could be on the way, though, when the two teams line up in Paarl on 4 July.
“Look, we want to play rugby, we don’t really want to get into the maul and slugfest.
“But rugby is a game where you have to be able to play in many different ways. Today we showed that we can roll up our sleeves when we need to, and manage the game properly.”