Under 19s and Womens Side Beaten

The Ireland Under 19s were beaten 12-3 in Musgrave Park while the Womens XV were unable to deny Engaland a Grand Slam, the visitors claiming that honour in style with a 46-3 victory in Thomond Park.

In Cork, Ireland matched the bigger English side in the physical stakes – which augers well for next month’s FIRA World Cup in France -but the penalties they conceded proved their downfall in the end. They dominated the opening half yet only had a Barry Keeshan penalty to show for their effort and the sides were level at the break, Ross Broadfoot, leveling the game with a penalty just before the break.

Broadfoot stretched the English lead just after the restart and added his third eleven minutes into the half.
With defences dominating, scoring chances were few and far between and Broadfoot put the issue beyond recall with his fourth successful kick in the closing stages.

In Limerick, the Ireland Womens side were overwhelmed by a mightily impressive English unit. By half time the visitors were out of sight, the Irish trailing 22-0, England try scorers, Sue Day, Chris Diver and Suzy Appleby.
And matters didn’t improve much in the second half although Ireland did produce a spirited performance. Their only score came form the boot of Sarah Jane Belton.