JWC2013: France U20 9 Ireland U20 8

Ieland U20 recorded their second loss of the 2013 IRB junior World Championship with a semi final loss to hosts France in the 5 – 8 th place play offs.

It was far from a classic match with Ireland’s Ryan Murphy the only try scorer, but three penalty successes from France’s Baptiste Serin was enough to secure the game.

France (6) 9

PEN: Baptiste Serin (3)

Ireland (5) 8

TRY: Ryan Murphy

PEN: Rory Scannell

The game started with a yellow card for Darren Sweetnam, for a challenge in the air, and that pretty much set the tone for a tetchy and tense game.

Serin knocked over the resultant penalty on the 2nd minute and it took until the 30th minute before Ireland troubled the scoreboard with No. 8 Murphy, bagging a try. Scannell was unable to convert but minutes later Serin knocked over his second penalty to give France a 6 – 5 lead at the break.