[wptabs mode=”horizontal”][wptabtitle] REPORT[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]
Ireland U20’s ended the 2012 JWC Pool Stages as the No 6 seeds thanks to a convincing bonus point win over Italy. They now go on to play England again on Sunday 17th June KO 17:00 in the play–offs for 5th place.
Ireland topped the table for a while and looked to be going into the top four play offs for most of the afternoon until South Africa pulled away from England, scoring a bonus point win to put the tournament hosts top of Pool C, knocking Ireland out of the top 4.
Ireland started the game strongly racking up three tries in the opening eight minutes as it looked like they were going to run away with this game.
Ulster’s Chris Farrell and Peter Nelson combined well for Nelson to go over for Ireland’s first try and moments later Nelson broke through the defence again to hack ahead for Farrell to collect. Jack Carty converted both and Ireland Led 14 – 0 after 5 minutes.
The scoring didn’t end there though as a good chase from Conor Finn saw the ball break free for Aaron Conneely to gleefully collect and smash his way to the line. Carty obliged with the extras and Ireland led 21 – 0 after 8 minutes.
Ireland flung the ball about with some confidence but inevitably a loose pass was intercepted by Padovani who sprinted 80m to score and added the conversion for good measure. 21 – 7.
Moments later, a turn over from the Italians and a bouncing ball saw Italian scrum half Calabrese scamper through to score and it was game on with the score reading Ireland 21 Italy 12.
Ireland’s confidence took a knock and the game went through a scrappy phase with neither side dominating. Ireland did manage a penalty to move the score on to 24 – 12 at the break.
The jitters continued in the early phases of the second half but Ireland managed to grab that all important bonus point on the 50th minute when Nelson sent Rael through after a period of sustained pressure, Carty missed the conversion but Ireland were beginning to dominate as the Italian side began to tire.
Shortly after McGrath took his chance well off the back of a scrum attacking down the blind side with a chip and chase which he collected before beating the cover to score in the corner. A monster conversion from Carty moved the score to 36 -12 after 54 minutes.
Nelson added his second try and Ireland’s sixth ten minutes later with a delightful dummy to open up space. Carty missed from out wide but the expectation was that Ireland would add a few more to their tally.
However, with Farrell pulled off just before Nelson’s second score and Nelson joining him on the side-lines shortly after, the makeshift backline failed to fire with the same accuracy. A strange decision at the time but it would have made little difference to Ireland’s final standings so a good call in the end to rest the players for what promises to be two big games ahead.
Ireland finished the pool stages seeded 6th and they will be desperate to maintain or improve that standing come the end of the competition. They now face England again in the positional play offs and, depending on whether they win or lose that one will face either France or Australia in the 5th Place Play offs.
5th Place Play Offs
17 Jun, 14:45 France – Australia Newlands Stadium, Cape Town
17 Jun, 17:00 Ireland – England University of Western Cape Stadium, Cape Town[/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] PICTURES[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]
KPICASA_GALLERY(20120612JWCIreVIta)
[/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] LIVE[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]Sorry folks something really hammered our servers during the game and the site was as slow as Mike Ross!We’ll get it sorted out for Sunday’s game.
Ireland won 41 – 12 with Nelson and Farrell having impressive games in midfield. The result puts Ireland on 10 points and in order to win the group we need South Africa to beat England with neither side getting a bonus point. Ireland would then go through to the final 4 by virtue of their head to head result against South Africa.
Anyway here’s our twitter feed of the game:
@mickado15 @HarpinOnRugby Cheers – that’s more hope than I though. No chance on points diff.
#JWC Game stuttering to a close. Ireland now have a nervous wait for the game between England and South Africa
@HarpinOnRugby does it go on points difference or head to head? View conversation
#JWC 75minutes gone score still Ireland 41 Italy 12
#JWC Nelson now off for a well earned break
#JWC Conversion missed. Ireland 41 Italy 12 after 65mins
#JWC TRY Peter Nelson get’s his second and Ireland’s 6th try.
#JWC 60mins gone still Ireland 36 Italy 12. Chris Farrell of for a rest!
#JWC 55 minutes gone conversion good. Ireland lead 36 – 12
#JWC Try Ireland. Great kick and chase from Luke McGrath
#JWC Conversion missed. Ireland lead 29 – 12
#JWC Try Ireland James Rael goes over for Ireland’s 4th try
#JWC Tadhg Beirne on in the back row as Ireland look for that bonus point try.
#JWC Tadhg Furlong and Stuart Olding on for Ireland
#JWC Teams back out and Italy kick off
37 mins gone IRE 24 ITA 12 in the #JWC. Slowed down a bit after an exciting start!
Sorry folks desperately slow connection here. Coming up to the 10 minute mark and Ireland well in control leading 21 – 0 thanks to tries from Peter Nelson, Chris Farrell and Aaron Conneely
Ireland U20’s play Italy U20’s in their final pool match this afternoon at the Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town. KO 1:45pm.
Ireland Under-20 head coach Mike Ruddock has made nine changes in personnel to the side that started against England last time but all four Ulster players remain in the match day squad.
Peter Nelson is switched from full-back to outside centre, where he partners his Dungannon team mate Chris Farrell, Iain Henderson stays in second row and Stuart Olding remains on the bench as utility back cover.
James Rael and Peter Reilly join Des Merrey in the front row, while Alan O’Connor, another new starter, will partner Henderson in the second row.
Aaron Conneely and Josh van der Flier have been added to the back row alongside regular number 8 Jack Conan who will captain the team.
Mike Sherlock has been named at full-back with Conor Finn selected on the right wing.
Buccaneers pairing Luke McGrath and Jack Carty, will combine at half-back, with the pair making their first starts of the Junior World Championship.
Commenting on the team selection, Ruddock said:
“We have had two extremely physical battles against South Africa and England and we felt we needed to freshen the team up.
“A number of players are carrying bumps and bruises and it provides opportunities for other squad members to step up and take their chance.”
This fixture has been moved from Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch to Cape Town Stadium. TG4 will carry live coverage of the game on Tuesday afternoon.
TEAMS
| Ireland | Italy | |
| Des Merry | 1 | Giovanni Maistri (C) |
| James Rael | 2 | Giovanni Scalvi |
| Peter Reilly | 3 | Leonardo Bortoletti |
| Alan O’Connor | 4 | Marco Bellucci |
| Iain Henderson | 5 | Alfio Luca Mammana |
| Aaron Conneely | 6 | Ruben Riccioli |
| Josh Van Der Flier | 7 | Zanini Guglielmo |
| Jack Conan (C) | 8 | Vittorio Marazzi |
| Luke McGrath | 9 | Guido Calabrese |
| Jack Carty | 10 | Edoardo Padovani |
| Sam Coghlan-Murray | 11 | Filippo Guarducci |
| Chris Farrell | 12 | Andrea Bettin |
| Peter Nelson | 13 | Giovanni Benvenuti |
| Conor Finn | 14 | Alex Morsellino |
| Mikey Sherlock | 15 | David Odiete |
| Niall Scannell | 16 | Luca Conti |
| Tadhg Furlong | 17 | Sami Panico |
| Jake Cawley | 18 | Pietro Ceccarelli |
| Tadhg Beirne | 19 | Alessio Zdrilich |
| Shane Buckley | 20 | Federico Conforti |
| Kieran Marmion | 21 | Marcello Violi |
| Cathal Marsh | 22 | John Apperley |
| Stuart Olding | 23 | Giulio Bisegni |
| 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 | 74-3 | Samoa |
| 12 Jun, 18:45 | New Zealand | 33-12 | 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 | 41-12 | Italy |
| 12 Jun, 18:45 | South Africa | 28-15 | 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 | 17-12 | Scotland |
| 12 Jun, 16:45 | France | 31-7 | Australia |
Seedings after pool fixtures
| Position | Team | |||||||||
| 1 | Wales | |||||||||
| 2 | Argentina | |||||||||
| 3 | South Africa | |||||||||
| 4 | New Zealand | |||||||||
| 5 | France | |||||||||
| 6 | Ireland | |||||||||
| 7 | England | |||||||||
| 8 | Australia | |||||||||
| 9 | Fiji | |||||||||
| 10 | Scotland | |||||||||
| 11 | Italy | |||||||||
| 12 | Samoa | |||||||||
Final Standings
|
Pool A
|
||||||||||
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | TF | TA | BP | PTS |
| Wales | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 127 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| New Zealand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 102 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Fiji | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Samoa | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 152 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pool B | ||||||||||
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | TF | TA | BP | PTS |
| South Africa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 99 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Ireland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 79 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| England | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 99 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Italy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 157 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pool C | ||||||||||
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | TF | TA | BP | PTS |
| Argentina | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Australia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 77 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Scotland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 53 | 114 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |