Madigan Kicks Under-20s To Gutsy Win

Ian Madigan kicked an injury-time penalty as the Ireland Under-20s dug deep to defeat their French counterparts 9-6 in their Six Nations opener at Dubarry Park, handing new coach Allen Clarke a winning start to his reign.

2009 RBS UNDER-20 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Friday, February 6

IRELAND UNDER-20s 9 FRANCE UNDER-20s 6, Dubarry Park

Scorers: Ireland: Pens: Conor Murray, Andrew Burke, Ian Madigan

France: Pen: Pierre Bernard: Drop: Pierre Bernard

ESB International man-of-the-match Ian Madigan landed a late penalty to ensure Ireland got off to a winning start in the RBS Under-20 6 Nations before a large attendance in Athlone.

The home of AIB League club Buccaneers was in resplendent condition without an icicle to be seen as Ireland and their French visitors served up an end-to-end game which was on a knife-edge throughout until Madigan’s late penalty split the sides.

The game seemed to be heading for a draw but Ireland conjured up a final attack, sparked by a superb Mark Doyle break.

French prop Rabah Slimani who was penalised for offside at a ruck and Madigan held his nerve to put Ireland into the lead for the first time in this exciting tie.

Try-scoring chances were far and few between on a bitterly cold night. Defences stood firm and both teams failed to give an inch from the many scrums and lineouts produced.

Ireland’s set piece was particularly solid but France sucked up whatever territorial pressure the hosts had.

Allen Clarke’s side managed to convert one of four kicks in the opening half with scrum half Conor Murray finding his range from about 30 metres after 37 minutes, having been off target with two earlier kicks.

France had gone ahead after 12 minutes’ play when out-half Pierre Bernard landed a drop goal from the 22-metre line.

The tension spilled over ten minutes later when a number of players got involved in a bust-up and the two captains, Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony, who had an otherwise impressive display, and his French counterpart Alexandre Lapandry, were dispatched to the sin-bin.

Ireland had a chance to nip in front before the break but Madigan missed a kick from distance out on the right wing.

It was 3-3 at the interval and after both sides squandered chances in the early stages of the second-half, France again went in front when Bernard converted a penalty from the left after 53 minutes.

Irish out-half Andrew Burke cancelled that out, five minutes later, with a penalty from in front of the posts.

The nip-and-tuck nature of the game continued. Neither side were able to make the most of their opportunities in the final quarter and the game seemed to be heading for a share of the spoils.

However, Madigan was able to have the final say for this committed and hard-working Irish side.

He stepped forward and despite huge pressure on his shoulders, he guided the winning penalty between the posts.

France had a few more minutes to level things up or perhaps get a match-winning try but despite a late visit to the hosts’ 22, Clarke’s youngsters held firm to notch a momentum-building win.

IRELAND U-20: Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster); David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster), Ian McKinley (UCD/Leinster), Eamonn Sheridan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Michael Keating (Clontarf/Leinster); Andrew Burke (Garryowen/Munster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Thomas Sexton (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Jack O’Connell (Lansdowne/Leinster), Ciaran Ruddock (Neath/Exiles), Mark Flanagan (UCD/Leinster), Rhys Ruddock (Millfield School/Exiles), Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) (capt).

Replacements used: Gary Foley (Blackrock College/Leinster) for McKinley (51 mins), John Cooney (UCD/Leinster) for Murray (53), Mark Doyle (UL Bohemians/Munster) for Burke (66), James Sandford (Queen’s University/Ulster) for C Ruddock (68), Paddy McAllister (Ballynahinch/Ulster) for O’Connell, (73), David McGregor (Ballynahinch/Ulster) for McGrath (79), Michael Noone (Seapoint & Lansdowne/Leinster) for Ryan (80).

FRANCE U-20: Sofiane Guitoune (Agen); Nicolas Vaysse (Toulouse), Guillaume Namy (Brive), Laurent Tranier (Biarritz Olympique), Jeremy Sinzelle (Toulon); Pierre Bernard (Bayonne), Florian Cazenave (Perpignan); Rabah Slimani (Stade Francais), Jean Charles Orioli (Toulon), Thomas Lebrequier (Biarritz Olympique), Russland Boukerou (Toulouse), Mickael De Marco (Montpellier), Alexandre Lapandry (Clermont Auvergne) (capt), Loan Goujon (Clermont Auvergne), Benoit Guyot (Stade Francais).

Replacements used: Thomas Dubois (Colomiers) for Lebrequier (half-time), Vincent Colliat (Lyon) for Orioli (48 mins), Ludovic Radosavlejic (Clermont Auvergne) for Cazenave, Vincent Mutel (Pau) for Boukerou, Jeremy Guillot (Bourgoin) for Goujon (64), Romain Lombard (Chalon sur Saone) for Guitone, Geoffrey Doumeyrou (Montpellier) for Vaysse (both 74).

Referee: David Bodilly (Wales)