Shortened Trial Match Ends In Draw

The Ireland squad’s trial match at Wanderers RFC on Friday afternoon ended in a 14-14 draw, after referee Alan Lewis blew the final whistle after just over an hour’s play.

IRELAND TRIAL MATCH: Friday, May 27
Whites 14 Blues 14, Merrion Road, Wanderers RFC
Scorers: Whites: Tries: Lewis, Leamy; Cons: Wallace 2
Blues: Tries: Jennings, Quinlan; Cons: Burke 2

Stand-in coach Niall O’Donovan halted proceedings after Anthony Horgan (leg), ‘Whites’ captain Simon Easterby (neck) and Paddy Wallace (finger), the kicker of two conversions for the Whites, were forced off with injury.

None of the injuries are though to of a serious nature, but both Easterby and Wallace were brought to a near-by hospital afterwards for precautionary X-rays.

The Whites and ‘Blues’, coached by O’Donovan’s Japan tour assistants Michael Bradley and Mark McCall respectively, duelled out a competitive affair on Merrion Road.

Bradley’s Whites went 14-0 up with tries from centre Kieran Lewis, watched closely by his new Leinster coaches Michael Cheika and David Knox, on 9 minutes, and Munster back row Denis Leamy (28).

Both efforts – with Leamy’s the result of some powerful pack play – were converted by Whites’ fly-half Wallace.

The in first half injury-time, the Blues grabbed a seven-pointer back as Leicester Tiger Shane Jennings crossed under the posts, after McCall’s charges had manifested a forceful maul.

Munster fly-half Paul Burke converted and added the extras to his provincial team mate Alan Quinlan’s 54th-minute touch down, grafted for from a close-in lineout drive.

Scoring Sequence:

9 minutes: Whites’ try: Kieran Lewis – 5-0; conversion; Paddy Wallace – 7-0
28 mins: Whites’ try: Denis Leamy – 12-0; con: Wallace – 14-0
40(+1) mins: Blues’ try: Shane Jennings – 12-5; con: Paul Burke conversion – 14-7
HT: Whites 14 Blues 7
54 mins: Blues’ try: Alan Quinlan – 14-12; con: Burke – 14-14
FT: 65 mins: Whites 14 Blues 14

WHITES: M McHugh (Connacht); T Bowe (Ulster), K Lewis (Leinster), J Downey (Connacht), G Brown (Leinster); P Wallace (Ulster), C Keane (Connacht); J Lyne (Leinster), P Shields (Ulster), S Best (Ulster), T Hogan (Munster), B Gissing (Leinster), S Easterby (Llanelli), D Leamy (Munster), R Wilson (Ulster).

Replacements used: D McAllister (Leinster) for Wallace (40 mins), F Murphy (Munster) for Downey (45), K Gleeson (Leinster) for Leamy, D Blaney (Leinster) for Lewis (both 50), D Dillon (Leinster) for Easterby (56).

BLUES: G Duffy (NEC Harlequins); C McPhillips (Connacht), P Devlin (Munster), D Quinlan (Northampton), A Horgan (Munster); P Burke (Munster), K Campbell (Ulster); R Corrigan (Leinster), B Jackman (Leinster), L Johnson (Ballynahinch), L Cullen (Leicester), M McCullough (Ulster), A Quinlan (Munster), S Jennings (Leicester), J O’Sullivan (Munster).

Replacements used: E Hickey (Leinster) for Horgan (15 mins), B O’Riordan (Leinster) for Duffy (38), R McCormack (Leinster) for Johnson, J Fogarty (Connacht) for Jackman (both 40), D Fitzpatrick (Ulster) for Corrigan (54), M Swift (Connacht) for Quinlan (56).

HT: Whites 14 Blues 7
Referee: Alan Lewis (Leinster)