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. Rory Scannell was unable to convert but minutes later Serin knocked over his second penalty to give France a 6 – 5 lead at the break.
In a fairly nondescript second half Serin knocked over his 3rd penalty on the 47th minute and Scannell replied 15 minutes later. Ireland had a few chances to take the game but they were literally unable to convert, the game ending with a one point win for the hosts.
IRELAND U20: Rory Scholes, Darren Sweetnam, Thomas Farrell, Rory Scannell, Alex Wootton, Steve Crosbie, Luke McGrath (C), Peter Dooley, Bryan Byrne, Christopher Taylor, Sean McCarthy, John Donnan, Conor Joyce, Josh van der Flier, Ryan Murphy. Replacements: George McGuigan, Edward Byrne, Adam Boland, Peadar Timmins, Jack O’Donoghue, David Shanahan, Mark Roche, David Panter.
