Ireland keep faith in the system
The Ireland’s U20s fought hard to record an excellent win away to France on Friday night, but it was a game that so easily could have slipped away from Richie Murphy’s side.
While playing some good rugby in the first period – bringing the same level of intent to their attack that was on display against Wales a week previously – they also coughed up possession too easily on a number of occasions and saw France butcher a couple of good scoring opportunites of their own.
They were three points down at half-time, trailing 10-7, and at that point you could have made convincing arguments that Ireland should have been further behind, or actually in the lead – it was that type of game.
The fear was that Ireland may have missed their chance, and while France made a blistering start to the second half, Murphy’s young side never lost their nerve, displaying impressive temperament and patience in the face of some intense French pressure – the hosts made seven linebreaks compared to Ireland’s one – and frustrating officiating.
Captain Reuben Crothers is certainly a player to keep an eye on and led by example in France, leading the defensive effort with 17 tackles and producing a massive turnover mid-way through the second half when Ireland were really under the cosh.
Leinster academy loosehead Jack Boyle carried with intent throughout, delivering another stand-out display after impressing against Wales – leading Ireland’s stats with 15 carries and three defenders beaten – as did fullback Patrick Campbell, and while Charlie Tector had something of a mixed night at out-half, he held his nerve to cooly slot the match-winning conversion.
For a young group who have missed out on so much age-grade rugby, this was a really impressive outing, making smart decisions under pressure on what for many, would have been the first big away day in their young careers. They handled the occasion admirably.
Catch them if you can
With Ireland the only team to go two wins from two, the tournament now looks wide open for them.
France will have been bitterly disappointed to lose on home soil last night, while elsewhere, Italy beat England for the first time ever at U20s level with a 6-0 win in Treviso and Wales recovered from their opening round hammering in Cork, coming from 7-0 down at half-time to beat Scotland 26-13.
It all means the tournament now looks wide open, and Ireland sit three points clear of both France and England at the top of the table as they head into a break. Next up, it’s Italy in Musgrave Park on 25 February, before Murphy’s side round out the championship with a trip to England (12 March) and home game against Scotland (20 March).
Before this tournament, Murphy was keen to play down expectations, pointing to the lack of competitive action most of this group have had over the last two years.
Now, they’ve negotiated the opening block of games by beating two very different types of opponent with two very different performances, producing a clinical, free-flowing display to stick eight tries on Wales, then digging deep to stay in the fight against France with a more sleeves-up approach – just the three offloads last night – before delivering that late killer blow.
All in all, it’s been an excellent start to their Six Nations campaign and despite Murphy’s initial caution, this group will now have their sights set on going on to lift some silverware.
Bench impact
Murphy made some interesting selections going for the France game, opting for four changes to his starting XV despite Ireland looking so sharp and ruthless in beating Wales in the first round.
And having seen his team leave the south of France with a well-earned win, you’d have to say he got those calls right. Ireland will be annoyed not to have capitalised on some good spells in the first period but it would be hard to be too critical of their performance, and the bench then made a real impact when Ireland desperately needed some fresh legs in the second half, spurring them on to turn the tide and steal an unlikely win.
Scrum-half Matthew Devine was perhaps the pick of the bunch. Ethan Coughlan had gone well upon his promotion to the starting team, but Connacht man Devine then noticeably lifted the tempo after his introduction and delivered a sharp, quality pass for Ben Brownlee’s late try.
Ireland now have a two-week break before they host Italy back in Musgrave Park. Based on the opening two weekends, Murphy has plenty of tough decisions to consider in the meantime. He clearly has a competitive, hungry young group of players on his hands.
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Gavan Casey and Murray Kinsella hit record for the second time in one day after news of Johnny Sexton’s injury, with Illtud Dafydd joining the lads on the line from Paris to give great insight into all things les Bleus.
