Ireland Kick Off Six Nations U18 Festival With Wins Over Italy And England

Ireland v Italy

Ireland proved too strong for Italy in their opening match with a five try win. Rebecca Cahill opened and closed for Ireland with the first and last tries of the game.

Roisín Ridge added the second score with an excellent support line and Amy McConkey showed a clean pair of heels of the base of a scrum to score the third.

Number 8 Roisin Power also scored of the back of a scrum, handing off two challenges to record the fourth try. Lani O’Donovan and Heidi Lyons added a conversion each to complete the scoring.

England v Ireland

Ireland weathered some early pressure from England and after ten minutes scored the opening try of the match. A fine break from Caitlin Crowe set them up to lay siege to the England line forcing a penalty. A clever tap and switch allowed Merisa Kiripati to power over. Siofra Hession added the conversion.

Ireland quickly followed up with their second of the match and a third on the day for Rebecca Cahill who finished off an excellent run of play as the girls in green worked their way up the pitch. Hession duly added the extras.

England tried to gain momentum but were stopped at every turn by a dogged Ireland defence and some excellent counter attacking to keep them on the back foot. The clock was in the red when Lucia Dickinson added the final try of the match with another conversion from Hession to make it 0-21 and a perfect start for Ireland.

Day 1 Tries