Ireland A Lose It In The Second half

The Ireland A side found their French counterparts just that bit too good at a wet and windy Ravenhill on Friday where the home side went down 29-19, having trailed 16-12 at half-time.

Paul Burke kicked four first half penalties, and converted Paul Shields’ 55th try, a try that gave the Irish a 19-16 lead, but the French replied with tries from Guillaume Bousses and Pepito Elhorga to seal the issue for the visitors.

Ireland: G D’Arcy (Leinster/Lansdowne); J Topping (Ulster/Ballymena), J Staunton (Munster/Garryowen), D Quinlan (Leinster/Blackrock College), T Robinson (Connacht/Buccaneers); P Burke (Harlequins), N Doak (Ulster/Belfast Harlequins); R McCormack (Connacht/Buccaneers), P Shields (Ulster/Ballymena), S Best (Ulster/Belfast Harlequins), D O’Callaghan (Munster/Cork Constitution), J Davidson (Ulster/Dungannon), S Easterby (Llanelli), E Miller (Leinster/Terenure College), K Dawson (London Irish).
Replacements: B O’Meara (Leinster/Cork Constitution) for Doak (half-time), M O’Driscoll (Munster/Cork Constitution) for Davidson, M Lawlor (Munster/Shannon) for Robinson (both 60 mins), A McCullen (Leinster/Lansdowne) for Easterby (65 mins), J Blaney (Munster/Shannon) for Shields (69 mins), P Bracken (Connacht/Galwegians) for Best (74 mins), B Everitt (London Irish) for Burke (81 mins).

France: N Brusque; P Elhorga, F Cermeno, G Messina, C Dominici; F Michalak, J-B Elissalde; N Mas, Y Bru, O Milloud, J Thion, L Mallet, J Bouilhou, P Tabacco, J Frier.
Replacements: B August for Bru (48 mins), G Bousses for Cermeno (58 mins), J-B Poux for Mas (61 mins), R Martin for Bouilhou (69 mins). Sinbinned: Elhorga (38-48 mins).

Referee: G Di Santis (Italy).