Ireland U20s 24 – 17 Wales U20s
Wales Under 20 were never able to recover from conceding a try after only 18 seconds as they slipped out of the championship race with a 24-17 defeat against their Irish counterparts at Dubarry Park, Athlone.
Ulster hooker Niall Annett couldn’t believe his luck as the faithfully chased the kick-off from his outside half James McKinney and found himself charging down Matthew Jarvis’ clearing kick.
The Welsh forwards had dealt with the kick-off very efficiently on their 22, but Jarvis took too much time to settle himself before clearing his lines and after getting his arm to the ball, Annett chased hard and dived to score.
To add insult to injury, McKinney converted off the left touchline and Wales were seven points down inside the opening minute. McKinney stretched the lead to 10 points in as many minutes with a penalty and then No 8 Tom Butler added a second try.
Butler’s score proved particularly for the visitors as the midfield break by lock David O’Callaghan that paved the way for the score led to Wales prop Simon Gardiner and lock Lloyd Peers clashing heads and both leaving the field.
Wales lost a third player before the break when Peers’ replacement, James Thomas, was sent to the sin-bin for a swinging arm high tackle. At least the visitors didn’t concede any more points before the break, but they had plenty to reflect on at the break.
The home pack, superbly led by former Wales age group international Rhys Ruddock and boasting a 21 stone tight head prop from Wales in Stewart Maguire, ruled the roost in every phase in the opening 40 minutes. Their scrum embarrassed Wales, their line-out never failed and their back row slowed down Welsh possession.
Welsh skipper Josh Navidi tried to inspire his side and back row colleagues Morgan Allen and Toby Faletau at least made ground on the limited occasions they had the ball. The power of the home pack in that one-sided first-half meant the Welsh backs had little or no chance to shine, b ut it was a different story after the break.
It took just five minutes after the re-start for the Welsh back-line to show what it was capable of as Kristian Phillips burst through to send Dan Fish racing clear to the posts for a try which replacement outside half Dean Gunter converted.
If that score offered some hope to Wales, the Irish response made their task even harder as replacement wing Eoin Griffin raced onto a neat chip through by McKinney to notch the third home try. McKinney added the extras and Wales still had a mountain to climb.
With the enormous Maguire off the field Wales began to look more comfortable at the scrum and as the game opened up so Navidi’s men were able to get their natural game going.
Another brilliant back line move saw Fish brought in and the full back pinned back his ears and sped 25 metres to score wide out on the left. That score came after 52 minutes and the remainder of the game was played increasingly in the Irish half as the welsh attackers tried to find a way to breach the 12 point gap.
It too until injury time for Wales’ hard work to be rewarded, this time with a try on the right wing by James Loxton, but it was too little, too late and after Gunter’s conversion had hit a post the game came to an end.
Victory for the Irish kept them on course for both the Triple Crown and the championship as they now have a 17 point advantage over England at the top of the table.
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: N Annett, T Butler, E Griffin; Cons: J McKinney 3; Pen: J McKinney. Wales: Tries: D Fish 2, J Loxton; Con: D Gunter.
Wales U20: Dan Fish (Blues); James Loxton (Blues), Ben John (Ospreys), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Kristian Phillips (Ospreys); Matthew Jarvis (Ospreys, vice-captain), Gareth Davies (Scarlets); Dan Watchurst (Dragons), Rhys Williams (Blues), Simon Gardiner (Scarlets), Macauley Cook (Blues), Lloyd Peers (Ospreys), Morgan Allen (Pontypool), Josh Navidi (capt, Blues), Toby Faletau (Dragons)
Replacements: Ieuan Davies (Glamorgan Wanderers), Trystan Davies (Scarlets), James Thomas (Dragons), Rhys Jenkins (Dragons), Edward Siggery (Llandovery), Rhys Downes (Blues), Dean Gunter (Blues)
