Murray Kinsella
Reports from Hive Stadium, Edinburgh
Scotland 15
Ireland 33
ROARED ON BY a healthy contingent of travelling Irish support, the Ireland U20s got their Six Nations campaign back on track with a bonus-point win over Scotland in Edinburgh.
The Fields of Athenry rang out around Hive Stadium, in the shadow of Murrayfield, at one stage during Ireland’s win as Neil Doak’s men responded to last weekend’s disappointing 19-3 home defeat to England with an improved performance.
An early blitz of tries meant the game was essentially decided as a contest after just 22 minutes, with Ireland having secured the bonus point thanks in part to a hat-trick of tries from lively right wing Charlie Molony, who was named player of the match.
The Irish support included IRFU performance director David Humphreys, who will have enjoyed seeing some of the Irish physicality in the first half as try-scoring second row Billy Corrigan stood out in that regard.
Centre pairing Connor Fahy and Gene O’Leary Kareem also provided power and ball-carrying threat, while fullback Daniel Green was assured and converted four of the five Irish tries.
Humphreys’ predecessor David Nucifora, now working as Scottish Rugby’s performance director, was also in attendance after returning from a Lions’ recce with Andy Farrell in Austalia, having taken on a role as general manager of performance for the touring side.
Connor Fahy was powerful in midfield. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Nucifora might have been pleased with Scotland showing some grit in the second half but this was their second home defeat from two games in this Six Nations, leaving them in a dispiriting place at the bottom of the table.
Ireland head into the break weekend having shown more of their quality, even though they might be frustrated not to have kicked on more in the second half, scoring only once through dynamic sub back row Oisin Minogue.
Advertisement
Next up is a visit to Wales on Friday 21 February, with the Welsh having recovered from their opening weekend hammering at the hands of France to beat Italy away from home last night.
Ireland know they need to keep improving but a bonus-point win puts them back in the mix and the Irish fans who were at Hive Stadium will hope this was an omen of good things to come next door tomorrow.
Ireland were off the mark in just the second minute as Molony scorched through to finish from a clever inside pass from Green on lineout attack.
The Scots had chances to respond with lineout in Irish territory but blindside lock Michael Foy stole the second of them and a determined kick chase from O’Leary Kareem saw him knock Scotland wing Fergus Watson into touch.
Billy Corrigan celebrates his first-half try. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Ireland scored from the ensuing lineout as Corrigan and co. carried hard in the right before out-half Sam Wisniewski found Molony with a composed crossfield kick.
An excellent Fahy breakdown poach off another O’Leary Kareem tackle led Ireland’s third try in the 17th minute as Corrigan battered over from close range after nice handling by Bobby Power and Alex Mullan in the build-up.
Another Fahy turnover, a reef in the tackle this time, was followed by a huge Alex Mullan carry to earn an Irish penalty. They kicked into Scotland’s 22 once again and the powerful carrying from the likes of Foy laid the platform for Ireland’s backs to swing from left to right, with Fahy’s pass sending Molony over for his hat-trick.
Ireland had their bonus point just 22 minutes in and it was somewhat inevitable that they would let up a little, with Scotland soon stemming the tide with a breakout score as Watson finished a flowing passage.
Ireland had a maul try from hooker Henry Walker chalked off after TMO review coming towards the break but Doak’s side were in a good spot with a 26-5 lead.
Scotland came back out of the blocks strongly with a maul try for hooker Joe Roberts soon after the restart. Ireland’s discipline was slipping and Scottish tails were up as replacement scrum-half Hector Patterson seemed to have sniped over for their third score, only for a TMO review to show a knock-on during the build-up.
Oisin Minogue scores Ireland's fifth try. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Ireland muscled up in response to signs of Scottish life, pinning the home side into their 22 with repeated attacking sets until they cracked them with a clever trick lineout play to send flanker Oisin Minogue over with his first touch seconds after coming off the bench.
The Scots hit back when Patterson showed pace and control as he nudged ahead three times from an Irish error before grounding the counter-attacking score.
And though Ireland ended the game on the attack, a frustrating second half concluded with another handling mistake.
Scotland scorers:
Tries: Fergus Watson, Joe Roberts, Hector Patterson
Conversions: Matthew Urwin [0 from 3]
Ireland scorers:
Tries: Charlie Molony [3], Billy Corrigan, Oisin Minogue
Conversions: Daniel Green [4 from 5]
SCOTLAND: Jack Brown; Nairn Moncrieff (Campbell Waugh ’74), Johnny Ventisei (captain), Kerr Yule, Fergus Watson; Matthew Urwin (Ross Wolfenden ’71), Noah Cowan (Hector Patterson ‘HT); Oliver McKenna (Jake Shearer ’42), Joe Roberts, Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Jamie Stewart ’66); Charlie Moss (Bart Godsell ‘HT), Dan Halkon; Christian Lindsay (Oliver Duncan ’59), Billy Allen (Seb Stephen ‘HT), Reuben Logan.
IRELAND: Daniel Green; Charlie Molony, Gene O’Leary Kareem (Eoghan Smyth ’66), Connor Fahy, Ciarán Mangan; Sam Wisniewski (Dylan Hicks ’64), Clark Logan (Will Wootton ’61); Billy Bohan (Paddy Moore ’68), Henry Walker (Connor Magee ’53), Alex Mullan (Tom McAllister ‘HT); Mahon Ronan (David Walsh ’65), Billy Corrigan; Michael Foy, Bobby Power (Oisin Minogue ’59), Éanna McCarthy (captain).
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
19 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Irish U20s get Six Nations back on track with five-try win over Scots
Scotland 15
Ireland 33
ROARED ON BY a healthy contingent of travelling Irish support, the Ireland U20s got their Six Nations campaign back on track with a bonus-point win over Scotland in Edinburgh.
The Fields of Athenry rang out around Hive Stadium, in the shadow of Murrayfield, at one stage during Ireland’s win as Neil Doak’s men responded to last weekend’s disappointing 19-3 home defeat to England with an improved performance.
An early blitz of tries meant the game was essentially decided as a contest after just 22 minutes, with Ireland having secured the bonus point thanks in part to a hat-trick of tries from lively right wing Charlie Molony, who was named player of the match.
The Irish support included IRFU performance director David Humphreys, who will have enjoyed seeing some of the Irish physicality in the first half as try-scoring second row Billy Corrigan stood out in that regard.
Centre pairing Connor Fahy and Gene O’Leary Kareem also provided power and ball-carrying threat, while fullback Daniel Green was assured and converted four of the five Irish tries.
Humphreys’ predecessor David Nucifora, now working as Scottish Rugby’s performance director, was also in attendance after returning from a Lions’ recce with Andy Farrell in Austalia, having taken on a role as general manager of performance for the touring side.
Nucifora might have been pleased with Scotland showing some grit in the second half but this was their second home defeat from two games in this Six Nations, leaving them in a dispiriting place at the bottom of the table.
Ireland head into the break weekend having shown more of their quality, even though they might be frustrated not to have kicked on more in the second half, scoring only once through dynamic sub back row Oisin Minogue.
Next up is a visit to Wales on Friday 21 February, with the Welsh having recovered from their opening weekend hammering at the hands of France to beat Italy away from home last night.
Ireland know they need to keep improving but a bonus-point win puts them back in the mix and the Irish fans who were at Hive Stadium will hope this was an omen of good things to come next door tomorrow.
Ireland were off the mark in just the second minute as Molony scorched through to finish from a clever inside pass from Green on lineout attack.
The Scots had chances to respond with lineout in Irish territory but blindside lock Michael Foy stole the second of them and a determined kick chase from O’Leary Kareem saw him knock Scotland wing Fergus Watson into touch.
Ireland scored from the ensuing lineout as Corrigan and co. carried hard in the right before out-half Sam Wisniewski found Molony with a composed crossfield kick.
An excellent Fahy breakdown poach off another O’Leary Kareem tackle led Ireland’s third try in the 17th minute as Corrigan battered over from close range after nice handling by Bobby Power and Alex Mullan in the build-up.
Another Fahy turnover, a reef in the tackle this time, was followed by a huge Alex Mullan carry to earn an Irish penalty. They kicked into Scotland’s 22 once again and the powerful carrying from the likes of Foy laid the platform for Ireland’s backs to swing from left to right, with Fahy’s pass sending Molony over for his hat-trick.
Ireland had their bonus point just 22 minutes in and it was somewhat inevitable that they would let up a little, with Scotland soon stemming the tide with a breakout score as Watson finished a flowing passage.
Ireland had a maul try from hooker Henry Walker chalked off after TMO review coming towards the break but Doak’s side were in a good spot with a 26-5 lead.
Scotland came back out of the blocks strongly with a maul try for hooker Joe Roberts soon after the restart. Ireland’s discipline was slipping and Scottish tails were up as replacement scrum-half Hector Patterson seemed to have sniped over for their third score, only for a TMO review to show a knock-on during the build-up.
Ireland muscled up in response to signs of Scottish life, pinning the home side into their 22 with repeated attacking sets until they cracked them with a clever trick lineout play to send flanker Oisin Minogue over with his first touch seconds after coming off the bench.
The Scots hit back when Patterson showed pace and control as he nudged ahead three times from an Irish error before grounding the counter-attacking score.
And though Ireland ended the game on the attack, a frustrating second half concluded with another handling mistake.
Scotland scorers:
Tries: Fergus Watson, Joe Roberts, Hector Patterson
Conversions: Matthew Urwin [0 from 3]
Ireland scorers:
Tries: Charlie Molony [3], Billy Corrigan, Oisin Minogue
Conversions: Daniel Green [4 from 5]
SCOTLAND: Jack Brown; Nairn Moncrieff (Campbell Waugh ’74), Johnny Ventisei (captain), Kerr Yule, Fergus Watson; Matthew Urwin (Ross Wolfenden ’71), Noah Cowan (Hector Patterson ‘HT); Oliver McKenna (Jake Shearer ’42), Joe Roberts, Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Jamie Stewart ’66); Charlie Moss (Bart Godsell ‘HT), Dan Halkon; Christian Lindsay (Oliver Duncan ’59), Billy Allen (Seb Stephen ‘HT), Reuben Logan.
IRELAND: Daniel Green; Charlie Molony, Gene O’Leary Kareem (Eoghan Smyth ’66), Connor Fahy, Ciarán Mangan; Sam Wisniewski (Dylan Hicks ’64), Clark Logan (Will Wootton ’61); Billy Bohan (Paddy Moore ’68), Henry Walker (Connor Magee ’53), Alex Mullan (Tom McAllister ‘HT); Mahon Ronan (David Walsh ’65), Billy Corrigan; Michael Foy, Bobby Power (Oisin Minogue ’59), Éanna McCarthy (captain).
Referee: Tomas Bertazza [Argentina].
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Six Nations early blitz Ireland U20 Scotland six nations 2025