Irish Exiles U21’s Bounce Back

The Irish Exiles U21’s side, after defeat by Ulster the previous week responded well in their game against the Welsh Exiles at Brunel University last Sunday. Both sides face the same difficulties in their lack of preparation time and the fact that the majority of their players have already played a game the previous day.

The game was open and exciting to watch, the Irish scoring first with a try by Lonnergan in the corner and then having to defend against sustained Welsh pressure before giving away a try to the big Welsh centre, Jones. During this period, the Irish lost centre Hill to the sin bin while his fellow centre David Keane put in some big hits.

Both side played some excellent rugby with the Welsh, who included a number of London Welsh first team players in their back line, having an edge. The Irish front row, with the return of 17 stone prop O’Donnell and the Northampton loose head, Greevy, put the Welsh scrum under constant pressure during the second half.

In the final 10 minutes with the Welsh leading 22-15, it looked that the tremendous effort put in by the Irish players would not be enough. Then, captain and No 8, Adam Haines, picked up a loose ball just outside the Welsh 22 and drove through the centre of the Welsh defence, crossing the try line under the posts with at least 4 Welsh players hanging on to him.

At 22 points each, the last five minutes was tense until Lonnergan slotted over 2 penalties, the last from the half way line, to give the Irish a 28-22 victory.

Irish Exiles Squad.Hanan U Rahman (Cardiff), Paul Millea (Preston Grasshoppers), Daniel O’Donnell (Worcester), Terence Molloy (Stonyhurst), Andrew Gray (Durham Uni), Paul Lyons (Swansea Uni), Tom Doran (London Irish), David Evans (Newcastle), Adam Haines (UMIST), Niall Kellerghan (Worth), Ian Rudgeley (Saracens), Tom Greevy (Northampton), John Hill (Wasps), Neil Dowridge (Mold), Johnny McMurtry (Durham Uni), David Keane (Newcastle), Tom O’Brien (Brunel Uni), Liam Lonnergan (Richmond), Sean Malarkey (London Irish), Vince Fallon (Northampton), Mark Bruce (Oratory), Simon Ward (Maidenhead).