Ireland U-20 Men Pipped By Scotland In Play-Off Clash

Despite successive tries from Luke McLaughlin and Paidi Farrell putting them in a winning position, the Ireland Under-20 Men’s team (sponsored by PwC) suffered last-minute heartbreak at the hands of Scotland in Verona.

WORLD RUGBY UNDER-20 MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP – 9TH PLACE SEMI-FINAL:

Monday, July 14 –

IRELAND UNDER-20s 21 SCOTLAND UNDER-20s 22, Payanini Centre, Verona
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Henry Walker, Luke McLaughlin, Paidi Farrell; Cons: Daniel Green 3
Scotland: Tries: Nairn Moncrieff, Seb Stephen, Oliver Duncan, Jake Shearer; Con: Matthew Urwin
HT: Ireland 7 Scotland 17

Stand-in captain Henry Walker’s 25th-minute try from an Oisin Minogue pass kept Ireland within reach, trailing 17-7 at half-time after a fast Scottish start had seen Nairn Moncrieff and Seb Stephen both score.

The scoreline remained the same during the sin-binning of Oliver Duncan, Scotland’s third try scorer, but Neil Doak’s side pinned their opponents back. Their persistence paid off with a brace of tries past the hour mark.

Replacement McLaughlin powered over in just his second appearance at this level, before Farrell showed his finishing skills in the 69th minute to claim his third try of the tournament. Daniel Green landed both conversions for a 21-17 lead.

However, Ireland’s hopes of a second win in the sweltering Italian heat were dashed by Jake Shearer’s close-range effort right at the death. The result means Doak’s youngsters will play Spain in Saturday’s 11th play-off in Calvisano (kick-off 3.30pm local time/2.30pm Irish time).

Full report to follow…

TIME LINE: 6 minutes – Scotland try: Nairn Moncrieff – 0-5; conversion: missed by Matthew Urwin – 0-5; 11 mins – Scotland try: Seb Stephen – 0-10; conversion: missed by Matthew Urwin – 0-10; 25 mins – Ireland try: Henry Walker – 5-10; conversion: Daniel Green – 7-10; 28 mins – Scotland try: Oliver Duncan – 7-15; conversion: Matthew Urwin – 7-17; 36 mins – Scotland yellow card: Oliver Duncan; Half-time – Ireland 7 Scotland 17; 64 mins – Ireland try: Luke McLaughlin – 12-17; conversion: Daniel Green – 14-17; 69 mins – Ireland try: Paidi Farrell – 19-17; conversion: Daniel Green – 21-17; 80 mins – Scotland try: Jake Shearer – 21-22; conversion: missed by Jack Hocking – 21-22; Full-time – Ireland 21 Scotland 22

IRELAND U-20: Daniel Green (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster); Paidi Farrell (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster), Ciarán Mangan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Eoghan Smyth (Cork Constitution FC/Munster), Gene O’Leary Kareem (UCC RFC/Munster); Sam Wisniewski (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Clark Logan (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster); Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster), Henry Walker (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster) (capt), Alex Mullan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Mahon Ronan (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster), Conor Kennelly (Highfield RFC/Munster), Michael Foy (UCC RFC/Munster), Bobby Power (Galwegians RFC/Connacht), Oisin Minogue (Shannon RFC/Munster).

Replacements used: Charlie Molony (UCD RFC/Leinster) for O’Leary Kareem (3-13 mins), Will Wootton (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby) for Logan, Paddy Moore (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) for Usanov (both 35), Billy Corrigan (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster) for Kennelly, David Walsh (Terenure College RFC/Leinster) for Minogue (both 52), Luke McLaughlin (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) for Ronan (56), Tom McAllister (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster) for Mullan (57), Molony for Wisniewski (60), Jonny Scott (Banbridge RFC/Ulster) for Smyth (75).

SCOTLAND U-20: Jack Brown (Edinburgh); Nairn Moncrieff (Edunburgh), Johnny Ventisei (Glasgow Warriors) (co-capt), Kerr Yule (Glasgow Warriors), Fergus Watson (Glasgow Warriors); Matthew Urwin (Glasgow Warriors), Hector Patterson (Edinburgh); Ollie McKenna (Glasgow Warriors), Seb Stephen (Glasgow Warriors), Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh), Dylan Cockburn (Melrose RFC), Bart Godsell (Loughborough University), Oliver Duncan (Edinburgh), Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh) (co-capt), Reuben Logan (Northampton Saints).

Replacements used: Ben White (Melrose RFC/Edinburgh) for McKenna, Charlie Moss (Montpellier) for Cockburn (both 56 mins), Joe Roberts (Glasgow Warriors) for Stephen, Mark Fyffe (University of Edinburgh) for Godsell (both 60), Jake Shearer (Glasgow Warriors) for Blyth-Lafferty (62), Jed Findlay (Exeter Chiefs) for Moncrieff (68), Noah Cowan (Brunel University/Ealing Trailfinders) for Patterson (73), Godsell for Fyffe (76), Jack Hocking (Edinburgh) for Urwin (79).

Referee: Filippo Russo (FIR)