World Rugby Under-20 Championship 9th-place semi-final: Scotland 22 Ireland 21
Say what you like about this Ireland Under-20s group but their recent struggles have not come down to lack of endeavour. Yet for all the desperation to take this game deep, familiar failings reared their head as Scotland scored with the last play of the game to secure a one-point win in Verona.
Scotland started much the stronger. Wing Fergus Watson was a carrying menace and when a strike move sent him through a gap, catch-pass skills were all that was required to send Nairn Moncrieff over in the corner.
Five minutes later, Scotland were once again exposing Irish errors. Outhalf Matthew Urwin’s kick in behind was sensational in terms of both distance and accuracy, landing deep inside the 22. Yet it should never have been allowed to bounce out for a 50/22. Hooker Seb Stephen fell over the line off the resulting maul.
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Ireland met sloppiness with resilience. One lineout maul came up empty, but a second saw Oisín Minogue barge over to narrow the gap. Or so we thought, the clever transfer from one dummy maul to a real one called back for obstruction. Minogue, though, was instrumental to Ireland’s eventual first try, his carry setting up Henry Walker to narrow the gap to three.
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Scotland took just three minutes to extend their lead again, Oliver Duncan scoring as Ireland failed to consolidate. The try gave Scotland a 10-point lead at the break.
As the game ticked into the final quarter, the Irish bench had its moment. Scrumhalf Will Wooton made an excellent decision inside the 22, drawing a defender and picking the right pass as fellow replacement Luke McLaughlin benefited under the posts.
Momentum secured, Ireland then hit the front. Páidí Farrell was given half a yard by Eoghan Smyth’s wide pass. He had to check his run, gathering the ball slightly behind him, but still had the turn of pace to beat the cover. Dan Green’s touchline conversion curled beautifully between the uprights.
It wasn’t enough. Scotland had a last-minute scrum inside the 22. Ireland struggled to deal with one-off forward carriers close to their line all tournament. It proved to be their undoing once more, prop Jake Shearer barging over in the 80th minute.
Ireland have one game left to save face in Italy, facing off against Spain in an 11th-place playoff.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 6 mins: Moncrieff try, 5-0; 11: Stephen try 10-0; 25: Walker try, Green con 10-7; 28: Duncan try, Urwin con 17-7; Half-time: 17-7; 64: McLaughlin try, Green con 17-14; 69: Farrell try, Green con 17-21; 80: Shearer try 22-21.
IRELAND: Daniel Green; Páidí Farrell, Ciarán Mangan, Eoghan Smyth, Gene O’Leary Kareem; Sam Wisniewski, Clark Logan; Alex Usanov, Henry Walker (capt), Alex Mullan; Mahon Ronan, Conor Kennelly, Michael Foy, Bobby Power, Oisín Minogue.
Replacements: Charlie Molony for O’Leary Kareem (3-13 mins, blood); Will Wooton for Logan, Paddy Moore for Usanov (both 35); Billy Corrigan for Kennelly, David Walsh for Minogue (both 52); Luke McLaughlin for Ronan (56); Tom McAllister for Mullan (57); Charlie Molony for Wisniewski (60); Jonny Scott for Smyth (75).
SCOTLAND: Jack Brown; Nairn Moncrieff, Johnny Ventisei, Kerr Yule, Fergus Watson; Matthew Urwin, Hector Patterson; Ollie McKenna, Seb Stephen, Ollie Blyth-Lafferty; Dylan Cockburn, Bart Godsell; Oliver Duncan, Freddy Douglas (capt), Reuben Logan.
Replacements: Ben White for McKenna, Charlie Moss for Cockburn (both 56 mins); Joe Roberts for Stephen, Mark Fyffe for Godsell (both); Jake Shearer for Blyth-Lafferty (62); Jed Finlay for Moncrieff (68); Noah Cowan for Patterson (73); Godsell for Fyffe (76); Jack Hocking for Urwin (79).
Yellow card: Duncan (36 mins).
Referee: Filippo Russo.
