Under-20 Six Nations/Wales 15 Ireland 17:Felix Jones was Ireland's hero with two tries as the under-20s came from 15-0 down to beat their Welsh counterparts at Swansea's Liberty Stadium last night. After the Welsh bolted out to comfortable lead, man-of-the-match Jones, a late replacement for senior Ireland cap Luke Fitzgerald, grabbed tries either side of half-time before outhalf Ian Keatley landed a superb drop goal to see his side home.
Scarlets outhalf Rhys Priestland opened the Welsh account when he kicked a penalty after the Irish made a hash of securing possession from the kick-off.
From a scrum in the shadow of his own posts, Leinster number eight Seán O'Brien showed bags of confidence by picking up at the base and fuelling an Irish break-out deep. Unfortunately, he picked up a leg injury in the process, which finished his involvement.
As if on cue, Wales moved up a gear with two quick tries.
After winning a lineout close to the Irish line, the Welsh pack battered their way forward before hooker Ken Owens was shunted over by his forwards for the opening try.
And just minutes later, the Wales number eight Lewis Evans took a quick tap and fed fullback Martyn Thomas, who wriggled out of a tackle to touch down.
Priestland landed the conversion and the home side were coasting 15-0 with barely 20 minutes played.
Wales looked to have scored a superb try when Thomas hit the line at pace and fed Cardiff Blues winger Tom James, who sprinted over and touched down, only to have the try disallowed.
Ireland finished the first half strongly and although Keatley missed a relatively easy penalty kick, the guests kept Wales pinned in their own half.
A well-timed pass saw full-back Felix Jones dart for the line and hold off his tacklers to cross for Ireland's first points, Keatley making amends for his earlier miss with the conversion.
At the resumption Ireland got stuck in right away and as the ball was spun wide, Jones showed some great footwork to cross for his second try.
Keatley added the conversion to close the gap to just 15-14 and then, with just 10 minutes remaining, Keatley stepped deep into the pocket and dropped a superb long-range goal to nose the Irish into the lead for the first, and decisive, time.
WALES: M Thomas; A Jenkins, J Lewis, A Smith (c), T James; R Priestland (R Jones 58 mins), R Lewis (D Allison 63 mins); H Gustafson, K Owens (B Flower 71), J Corsi; A Brown, L Reed (J Down 53); D Lydiate, (S Kiley 18-22 mins), J Harris, L Evans.
IRELAND: F Jones; S Monahan, D Cave, A Wynne, K Earls; I Keatley, P O'Donohoe; D Millard (R Murphy 40 mins), R Sweeney (G Slattery 75), J Hagan; C McInerney, A Browne; T Anderson, D Pollock (capt), S O'Brien (T O'Donnell 9 mins).
