JWC2012: England U20 20 Ireland U20 15

[wptabs effect=”fade” mode=”horizontal”][wptabtitle] PREVIEW[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]I must admit that I’m looking forward to this game tomorrow more than I am looking forward to the senior match on Saturday morning. It is so much more refreshing to see players selected on merit. (Oh er missus!)

Ireland have gone for exactly the same match day 23 as they did for their opening fixture against South Africa, and rightly so in my opinion as there is still plenty more to come from this group of youngsters. Whether it will be enough to beat a composed, powerful and somewhat arrogant England side is yet to be seen but the likes of, captain, Neil Scannell and scrum half Kieran Marmion will be looking to improve their individual performances and wings Sam Coghlan Murray and Barry Daly will be hoping to get the ball in hand a bit more often.

Looking back at the South Africa game Ireland can take some comfort that they won without really hitting their straps, South Africa lost the game in their heads and Ireland took full advantage, but it was far from a polished performance from the Wolfcubs.

Ireland can however build on a huge positive in that they were more than a match for the Bokkes physically with the front five, plus replacements, all more than capable and if they want to beat their near neighbours it’s the front five that are going to have to win it.

The, comparatively, experienced Tadhg Furlong and Iain Henderson are the men to watch in close quarters and if they can channel their aggression and keep their cool then Ireland have a shout.

Things are so tight in this JWC that it looks like Ireland will have to win the group if they are to progress to the semi, so this really is a must win game for the Irish boys.

Correction: Ulster’s Stuart Olding and Munster’s Shane Buckley have been brought into the replacement panel at the expense of Mikey Sherlock and Aaron Conneely. Good news for Olding who has a terrific future in the game, certainly a one to follow – lets hope he gets a bit of game time.

England		No	Ireland
Alec Hepburn		1	Des Merry
Koree Britton		2	Niall Scannell (C)
Kyle Sinckler		3	Tadhg Furlong
Dom Barrow		4	Tadhg Beirne
George Merrick		5	Iain Henderson
Dave Sisi		6	Jordon Coghlan
Ben Nutley		7	Conor Gilsenan
Jack Clifford		8	Jack Conan
Ben Spencer		9	Kieran Marmion
Tom Heathcote		10	JJ Hanrahan
Charlie Walker		11	Sam Coghlan-Murray
Ryan Mills (C)		12	Chris Farrell
Will Addison		13	Foster Horan
Marland Yarde		14	Barry Daly
Tommy Bell		15	Peter Nelson
Max Crumpton		16	James Rael
Luke Cowan-Dickie		17	Peter Reilly
Ross Harrison		18	Jake Cawley
Sam Twomey		19	Alan O’Connor
Chris Walker		20	Shane Buckley
Dan Robson		21	Luke McGrath
Sam Hill		22	Jack Carty
Ben Ransom		23	Stuart Olding

[/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] LIVE[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]View the match as it happened below.
[liveblog] [/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] REPORT[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]This really was the one that got away for the Irish U20’s as they spurned a great chance to qualify in the top four of the IRB 2012 JWC losing to England 20 – 15 after clocking up a 3 – 15 lead at the break.

Ireland really should have scored more points in the first half and will rue only scoring fie points during the period when England were down to 13 men. England, on the other hand, made their man advantage count when Ireland’s Shane Buckley was carded getting a penalty try and the decisive winning score during his absence.

England went into an early lead through a Heathcote penalty after 4 minutes, but Ireland worked their way back into the game with wings Sam Coughlan-Murray and Barry Daly looking dangerous with the ball in hand. A fantastic run from Daly on the 14th minute  put Ireland on the front foot deep in the England 22 and a quick recycle saw JJ Hanrahan stetch over the line for Ireland’s first try. Hanrahan converted and Ireland led 3 – 12.

Shortly after England’s Addison was carded for a dangerous tackle on Henderson and when six minutes later Barrow followed him to the bin for killing the ball the Wolfcubs had an ideal chance to rack up a decisive score having a two player advantage.

Unfortunately, poor conditions and England dictated the pace of the game and Ireland only managed a try from Marmion, out wide with Hanrahan missing the conversion, as the sin bin periods counted down. With both sides restored to their full complement Ireland did manage a further penalty before the break giving them a 3 – 15 lead at the break, but it should have been a lot more.

The big England side pack dominated proceedings after the break and kept Ireland pinned in their own half for most of the second half. Heathcote knocked over his second penalty shortly after the re-start and on the 62nd minute the big English pack forced the decisive play of the game. A strong 5m scrum from the English eight saw Ireland retreating over their own line at a rate of knots only for replacement Buckley to break and attempt to kill the ball. A penalty try and yellow card later England were within two points with the score reading England 13 Ireland 15 and as the conditions worsened it looked ominous for the Irish lads.

Sure enough, four minutes later the England pack drove over from an attacking lineout with Sinckler touching down at the back of a maul and with Heathcote converting England led 20 – 15.

As the pitch cut up in the final quarter so did Ireland’s chances and the Irish youngsters failed to find a response. England managed to close out the game comfortably enough leaving Ireland ruing their chances.

England		No	Ireland
Alec Hepburn		1	Des Merry
Koree Britton		2	Niall Scannell (C)
Kyle Sinckler		3	Tadhg Furlong
Dom Barrow		4	Tadhg Beirne
George Merrick		5	Iain Henderson
Dave Sisi		6	Jordon Coghlan
Ben Nutley		7	Conor Gilsenan
Jack Clifford		8	Jack Conan
Ben Spencer		9	Kieran Marmion
Tom Heathcote		10	JJ Hanrahan
Charlie Walker		11	Sam Coghlan-Murray
Ryan Mills (C)		12	Chris Farrell
Will Addison		13	Foster Horan
Marland Yarde		14	Barry Daly
Tommy Bell		15	Peter Nelson
Max Crumpton		16	James Rael
Luke Cowan-Dickie		17	Peter Reilly
Ross Harrison		18	Jake Cawley
Sam Twomey		19	Alan O’Connor
Chris Walker		20	Shane Buckley
Dan Robson		21	Luke McGrath
Sam Hill		22	Jack Carty
Ben Ransom		23	Stuart Olding

[/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] FIXTURES[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]The way it stands and with the remaining fixtures it looks unlikely that Ireland will qualify for the top four, the most likely finish is in the 5 – 8 play offs’ with South Africa, France and Australia.

Pool A
04 Jun, 14:45	Wales	44-18	Fiji
04 Jun, 16:45	New Zealand	63-0	Samoa
08 Jun, 14:45	Fiji	15-3	Samoa
08 Jun, 16:45	New Zealand	6-9	Wales
12 Jun, 16:45	Wales	–	Samoa
12 Jun, 18:45	New Zealand	–	Fiji
Pool B
04 Jun, 16:45	England	64-5	Italy
04 Jun, 18:45	South Africa	19-23	Ireland
08 Jun, 18:45	South Africa	52-3	Italy
08 Jun, 18:45	England	20-15	Ireland
12 Jun, 14:45	Ireland	–	Italy
12 Jun, 18:45	South Africa	–	England
Pool C
04 Jun, 14:45	Australia	67-12	Scotland
04 Jun, 18:45	France	15-18	Argentina
08 Jun, 14:45	Australia	3-15	Argentina
08 Jun, 16:45	France	30-29	Scotland
12 Jun, 14:45	Argentina	–	Scotland
12 Jun, 16:45	France	–	Australia

As they stand.

Pool A
Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	TF	TA	BP	PTS
Wales	2	2	0	0	53	24	0	0	1	9
New Zealand	2	1	0	1	69	9	0	0	2	6
Fiji	2	1	0	1	33	47	0	0	0	4
Samoa	2	0	0	2	3	78	0	0	0	0
Pool B
Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	TF	TA	BP	PTS
England	2	2	0	0	84	20	0	0	1	9
South Africa	2	1	0	1	71	26	0	0	2	6
Ireland	2	1	0	1	38	39	0	0	1	5
Italy	2	0	0	2	8	116	0	0	0	0
Pool C
Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	TF	TA	BP	PTS
Argentina	2	2	0	0	33	18	0	0	0	8
France	2	1	0	1	45	47	0	0	2	6
Australia	2	1	0	1	70	27	0	0	1	5
Scotland	2	0	0	2	41	97	0	0	1	1

[/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] PICTURES[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]

KPICASA_GALLERY(20120608JWCIreVEng)

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