England U20s 33-10 Ireland U20s
HANNAH CLARKE SHOWED her footballing skills to strike for a closing 70th-minute try as the Ireland U20 Women gave a very good account of themselves against an experienced England team in Parma.
This was the first international match played by the Ireland U20 Women, who are coached by 2013 Grand Slam winner Niamh Briggs, and with England being one of the standard bearers at this age-grade, it was always going to a difficult challenge.
The inaugural Women’s Six Nations Summer Series kicked off in sweltering Italian heat.
Led by two-try captain and player-of-the-match Lilli Ives Campion, England built a 26-5 half-time lead.
UL Bohemian duo Kate Flannery and Chisom Ugwueru combined for a slick 21st-minute score, with the winger, one of three U-23 players permitted in the matchday squad, displaying her Energia All-Ireland League-honed finishing abilities.
The hands! 🔥 Ireland score a beauty! #U6NSummerSeries pic.twitter.com/PxYyS1gTna
— Six Nations Under-20s (@SixNationsU20) July 4, 2024
Ireland had a number of purple patches in the second half, and the full squad contributed to a fine effort which saw them score through Clarke to cancel out an earlier Lia Green score.
Flannery, Ugwueru, Ruth Campbell, and Ivana Kiripati, who all have experience of the Ireland senior set-up, led by example, and there were bright moments from some of the U19-eligible players, including Beth Buttimer, Clarke and Kelly Burke, who won a late turnover penalty.
While disappointed with the lopsided scoreline, the collective performance augurs well for the rest of the tournament which sees Briggs’ youngsters play hosts Italy next Tuesday (KO 9am Irish time), and Scotland in the final round on Sunday week.
They’re currently going head-to-head in the final game of the day, while France beat Wales 57-12 earlier.
England scorers
Tries: Tori Sellors, Lilli Ives Campion 2, Reneeqa Bonner, Lia Green
Cons: Lia Green 4
Ireland scorers
Tries: Chisom Ugwueru, Hannah Clarke
HT: England 26 Ireland 5
ENGLAND U20: Lia Green (Loughborough Lightning/Winscombe RFC); Sophie Hopkins (Sale Sharks/Fullerians RFC), Millie Hyett (Gloucester-Hartpury/Worcester Girls RFC), Carmela Morrall (Loughborough Lightning/Dubai Hurricanes), Reneeqa Bonner (Bristol Bears/Clevedon RFC); Amelia MacDougall (Saracens/Old Albanian Saints), Tori Sellors (Saracens/Sevenoaks RFC); Chloe Flanagan (Saracens/Old Albanian Saints), Lucy Calladine (Loughborough Lightning/Burton RFC), Hannah Sams (Exeter Chiefs/Kingsbridge RFC), Tyla Shirley (Harlequins/Hove RFC), Lilli Ives Campion (Loughborough Lightning/Telford Hornets RFC) (capt), Anna Richardson (Exeter University/Tynedale RFC), Joia Bennett (Saracens/Old Albanian Saints), Annabel Meta (Trailfinders Women/Wimbledon RFC).
Replacements used: Ellie Roberts (Loughborough Lightning/Basingstoke RFC) for Meta (50 mins), Amelia Williams (Loughborough Lightning/Medway RFC) for Flanagan, Millie David (Bristol Bears/Reading RFC) for Hopkins (both 53), Samantha Shiels (Trailfinders Women/Grasshoppers RFC) for Bonner (54), Jorja Battishill (Gloucester-Hartpury) for Shirley (59), Shirley for Richardson, Niamh Swailes (Sale Sharks/Ryton RFC) for Calladine, Kira Leat (Trailfinders Women/Havant RFC) for Sams (all 64), Alex Wilkinson (Henley Hawks) for Sellors (67).
IRELAND U20: Robyn O’Connor (Wexford Wanderers RFC/Leinster); Hannah Clarke (Tuam/Oughterard RFC/Connacht), Lucia Linn (Loughborough University/IQ Rugby), Ellen Boylan (Blackrock College RFC/Munster), Chisom Ugwueru (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster); Kate Flannery (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster), Jade Gaffney (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster); Hannah Wilson (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Beth Buttimer (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster), Sophie Barrett (Enniskillen RFC/Railway Union RFC/Ulster), Ruth Campbell (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Jane Neill (Galwegians RFC/Leinster) (capt), Brianna Heylmann (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster), Éadaoin Murtagh (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Ivana Kiripati (American International College/Connacht).
Replacements used: Clíodhna Ní Chonchobhair (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) for Murtagh (34 mins), Grainne Burke (Ennis/Kilrush RFC/UL Bohemian RFC/Munster) for Wilson, Aoibheann Hahessy (Ennis/Kilrush RFC/UL Bohemian RFC/Munster) for Heylmann, Ellie O’Sullivan Sexton (Mullingar RFC/Leinster) for Boylan (all 55), Niamh Gallagher (Saracens/IQ Rugby) for Clarke (57), May Goulding (Saracens/Old Albanian Saints/IQ Rugby) for Gaffney (61), Lily Morris (Killarney RFC/Munster) for Barrett (64), Kelly Burke (Mullingar RFC/Leinster) for Buttimer (68), Murtagh for Kiripati (72).
Referee: Berenice Bralley (France)
About effing time. Soccars become a total farce
any clips of the incident?
It was a match in the Conference (5th Tier) so I doubt it…
Presumably if it was overturned there was some sort of evidence which could be conclusive if it was a video as referee sent him off so didn’t see any diving…
http://sport.bt.com/epic-fails/watch-moment-that-earnt-welling-man-historic-feigning-injury-charge-91364002948090 – need a UK proxy for it or hula…possibly someone has an Irish friendly version?
Thanks for link. Tranmere player basically backs up and sticks his bum out into Kabba… who goes down like a tonne of bricks holding his face (shirt pulled up, presumably to cover up his laughter) and generally acting the maggot.
Excellent decision!
Fair play lads, cheers!
So many things I’d like to change about football. Good start here but more work needs to be done.
Managers need a challenge system, up to 2 a game. Any dodgy penalty/sending off/disallowed goal shout can be reviewed by a TMO.
We can all think of examples of where this could have been used and we’re only 4 games in. The footballing authorities are ridiculously slow to implement any change that would be beneficial to the game. Goal line tech took forever and has improved the game without affecting it at all.
Too much time wasted in matches also. I’d have a 15 second restart clock for throws and free/goal kicks. People pay a lot of money to see these people play football not to feign injury and time waste.
Til I see it implemented in the higher leagues then I’ll believe it’s really being endorsed! It’s easy to punish smaller teams sadly!
Until soccer starts to learn from rugby & insists on respect for refs who can book or send off players harassing them for cards when they dive nothing will change. Soccer has become an irritating bore with guys cheating with impunity.