Wales 12
Ireland 40
HOW WE’VE MISSED U20s rugby, so often some of the most enjoyable oval-ball stuff you can find.
This age grade went a long time without being able to get onto the pitch for international rugby but Ireland are making up for lost time with two bonus-point wins from two to open their delayed U20s Six Nations campaign, all of which takes place at Cardiff Arms Park.
Richie Murphy’s team notched a bonus point in beating hosts Wales to follow up their opening victory against Scotland last weekend. Next up on Thursday of next week are the England U20s, who are also two bonus-point wins from two so far.
This win was influenced heavily by Ulster scrum-half Nathan Doak – the son of former Ulster coach Neil – who underlined why there is so much excitement about his talent within the northern province. He played with the composure and class of a far more experienced halfback.
There were promising performances all around him, from the skillful second row pairing of Alex Soroka and Harry Sheridan, to explosive loosehead prop Jack Boyle, to all-action captain and number eight Alex Kendellen, flanker Oisin McCormack, and exciting fullback Jamie Osborne.
There were lulls in the performance but when Ireland turned it on, their rugby was fluid and incisive. A team score finished by wing Chris Cosgrave in the first half was among the highlights, while Osborne and Doak combined for the latter’s superb score early in the second.
The Ulster scrum-half contributed 20 points in total in his first outing of this Six Nations, while impressive centre Cathal Forde, sub back row Daniel Okeke, and Kendellen also notched tries for Ireland.
Already, it is clear that this Ireland U20 squad will send plenty of talented players on their way towards senior professional rugby but they will be increasingly focusing on a possible Six Nations title right here and now.
England will be the most demanding challenge yet – Wales were poor tonight – but Ireland now have momentum and competition for places in a few positions. The rest of us are just looking forward to watching them play again.
Murphy’s men were dominant from early in the game as Doak bossed proceedings. Soroka was held up over the tryline after 10 minutes, with Kendellen also narrowly denied in the same manner just two minutes later when he had tapped a five-metre penalty.
But Ireland converted from the ensuing close-range scrum as Connacht’s Forde ran a superb short line onto Doak’s pass from the base to smash over under the posts.
Wales missed a chance to notch three points in the 21st minute as out-half Sam Costelow hit the post after Ireland were caught offside for the second time in quick succession, and they were further behind soon after.
This time Ireland’s try started from inside their own half, a dummy and break from Soroka key in providing them momentum before Boyle made a muscular carry to provide his backline with more front-foot ball.
Out-half Tim Corkery passed out the back to Osborne, who cleverly delayed his pass to wing Cosgrave, roaming infield, to send the Leinster man in to finish a wonderful team try.
The ill-disciplined Welsh were then caught offside chasing a kick, allowing Doak – who had already kicked both conversions – to slot a penalty for a 17-0 lead.
The home side finally had a shot in the Ireland 22 in the 36th minute but a strong defensive set ended with the omnipresent Kendellen producing a big turnover under the Irish posts to ensure the 17-point advantage was intact at half time.
They extended it with a stunning score just two minutes into the second half, Doak receiving a long Welsh box kick on the left just inside Ireland’s half, beating three defenders and passing back inside to Osborne, who then offloaded back outside to his scrum-half for the finish.
An error from Ireland right wing Ben Moxham, carrying the ball back over his own tryline before grounding it, gave Wales a platform soon after, though, and lock Dafydd Jenkins darted over after a series of close-range carries from the subsequent scrum.
Doak pushed Ireland out to 25-5 with a second penalty following a promising passage of Irish attack in which instinctive out-half Corkery made two scything darts at the line, Wales eventually coughing up another penalty.
Ireland lost centre Shane Jennings to the sin bin in the 59th minute after he failed to roll away from his tackle as Wales threatened the Irish tryline, and the Welsh used their numerical advantage to score through wing Carrick McDonough in the left corner on the very next attack.
Costelow’s touchline conversion was impressive but 14-man Ireland were able to add another three points having blocked down Wales’ exit attempt and won a penalty for Doak to slot for 28-12.
Wales’ McDonough was then yellow-carded for a blatant offside tackle and Ireland converted the ensuing lineout attack into a powerful bonus-point maul try finished by replacement back row and Munster man Okeke.
Finally, Kendellen got his reward for another complete showing as he crossed from a metre out late on for the fifth Irish try.
Wales scorers:
Tries: Dafydd Jenkins, Carrick McDonough
Conversions: Sam Costelow [0 from 1]
Penalties: Sam Costelow [0 from 1]
Ireland scorers:
Tries: Cathal Forde, Chris Cosgrave, Nathan Doak, Daniel Okeke, Alex Kendellen
Conversions: Nathan Doak [3 from 5]
Penalties: Nathan Doak [3 from 3]
WALES U20: Jacob Beetham; Dan John, Ioan Evans, Joe Hawkins, Carrick McDonough (yellow card ’68); Sam Costelow (Will Reed ’68), Harri Williams (Ethan Lloyd ’54); Garyn Phillips (Lewys Jones ’57), Efan Daniel (Oliver Burrows ’50), Nathan Evans; Joe Peard (James Fender ’40), Dafydd Jenkins; Alex Mann (captain) Harri Deaves (Christ Tshiunza ’40), Carwyn Tuipulotu.
Replacements: Theo Bevacqua, Tom Florence, Morgan Richards, Eddie James, Rhys Thomas.
IRELAND U20: Jamie Osborne; Ben Moxham (Conor Rankin ’74), Shane Jennings (yellow card ’59), Cathal Forde, Chris Cosgrave (Jude Postlethwaite ’66); Tim Corkery (Ben Carson ’72), Nathan Doak; Jack Boyle (George Saunderson ’63), Ronan Loughnane (Eoin de Buitléar ’72), Mark Donnelly (Sam Illo ’63); Alex Soroka (Mark Morrissey ’68), Harry Sheridan; Donnacha Byrne (Daniel Okeke ’66), Oisin McCormack, Alex Kendellen (captain).
Replacements: Reuben Crothers, Conor McKee, Fearghail O’Donoghue.
