Ireland U-20s Pick Up First Win With Molony The Hat-Trick Hero

After being held try-less by England last week, the Ireland Under-20 Men’s team (sponsored by PwC) got their attack firing early on in Edinburgh to pocket maximum points against Scotland.

UNDER-20 MEN’S SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 2:

Saturday, February 9 –

SCOTLAND UNDER-20 MEN 15 IRELAND UNDER-20 MEN 33, Hive Stadium, Edinburgh
Scorers: Scotland: Tries: Fergus Watson, Joe Roberts, Hector Patterson
Ireland: Tries: Charlie Molony 3, Billy Corrigan, Oisin Minogue; Cons: Daniel Green 4
HT: Scotland 5 Ireland 26

Player-of-the-match Charlie Molony struck for a memorable hat-trick of tries inside the opening 21 minutes, and forwards Billy Corrigan and Oisin Minogue also crossed in a convincing 33-15 bonus point victory.

Neil Doak’s charges quickly lit up this U-20 Men’s Six Nations encounter with a fine try after just 95 seconds. Clark Logan combined with Daniel Green in a clever change of direction, putting winger Molony speeding through the middle and in under the posts.

Fergus Watson opened Scotland’s account, and although they cut back a 26-5 half-time deficit to 16 points, that was as close as they came on a night when Doak gave debuts to Will Wootton, Dylan Hicks, and Paddy Moore.

Ireland will have been disappointed with some of their second-half execution and game management, but replacement Oisin Minogue’s try from a 58th-minute lineout effectively sewed up the result. Hooker Henry Walker had earlier missed out on a maul score due to obstruction.

Giving his reaction afterwards, victorious captain Éanna McCarthy said: “I’m very proud of the lads. It was a big week’s training that went in and a few fix-ups from last week.

“It was a fierce physical battle against Scotland, they are always a tough team to play. You don’t want to take them for granted.

“A bonus point win is hard to get wherever you go. There’s a lot to work on from here so we’ll just go back and train hard for Wales away, which will be another tough game.”

Doak’s youngsters are fourth in the U-20 Six Nations table, level on five points with both Italy and France, who lost 27-10 away to England. Ireland’s next assignment is a trip to Rodney Parade to play Wales on Friday, February 21 (kick-off 7.45pm).

Full report to follow…

TIME LINE: 1 minute – Ireland try: Charlie Molony – 0-5; conversion: Daniel Green – 0-7; 12 mins – Ireland try: Charlie Molony – 0-12; conversion: Daniel Green – 0-14; 16 mins – Ireland try: Billy Corrigan – 0-19; conversion: Daniel Green – 0-21; 21 mins – Ireland try: Charlie Molony – 0-26; conversion: missed by Daniel Green – 0-26; 24 mins – Scotland try: Fergus Watson – 5-26; conversion: missed by Matthew Urwin – 5-26; Half-time – Scotland 5 Ireland 26; 43 mins – Scotland try: Joe Roberts – 10-26; conversion: missed by Matthew Urwin – 10-26; 58 mins – Ireland try: Oisin Minogue – 10-31; conversion: Daniel Green – 10-33; 63 mins – Scotland try: Hector Patterson – 15-33; conversion: missed by Matthew Urwin – 15-33; Full-time – Scotland 15 Ireland 33

SCOTLAND U-20: Jack Brown (Edinburgh); Nairn Moncrieff (Edinburgh), Johnny Ventisei (Glasgow Warriors) (capt), Kerr Yule (Glasgow Warriors), Fergus Watson (Glasgow Warriors); Matthew Urwin (Glasgow Warriors), Noah Cowan (Brunel University/Ealing Trailfinders); Oliver McKenna (Glasgow Warriors), Joe Roberts (Glasgow Warriors), Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh), Charlie Moss (Montpellier), Dan Halkon (Glasgow Warriors), Christian Lindsay (Loretto School/Edinburgh), Billy Allen (Dungannon), Reuben Logan (Northampton Saints).

Replacements used: Jake Shearer (Glasgow Warriors) for McKenna, Hector Patterson (Edinburgh) for Cowan, Seb Stephen (Edinburgh Academical FC) for Moss, Bart Godsell (Loughborough University) for Allen (all half-time), Oliver Duncan (Edinburgh) for Lindsay (58 mins), Jamie Stewart (Edinburgh) for Blyth-Lafferty (65), Ross Wolfenden (Edinburgh) for Urwin (70), Campbell Waugh (Glasgow Hawks) for Moncrieff (73).

IRELAND U-20: Daniel Green (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster); Charlie Molony (UCD RFC/Leinster), Gene O’Leary Kareem (UCC RFC/Munster), Connor Fahy (Clontarf FC/Leinster), Ciarán Mangan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster); Sam Wisniewski (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Clark Logan (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster); Billy Bohan (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht), Henry Walker (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster), Alex Mullan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Mahon Ronan (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster), Billy Corrigan (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster), Michael Foy (UCC RFC/Munster), Bobby Power (Galwegians RFC/Connacht), Éanna McCarthy (Galwegians RFC/Connacht) (capt).

Replacements used: Tom McAllister (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster) for Mullan (half-time), Connor Magee (Banbridge RFC/Ulster) for Walker (52 mins), Oisin Minogue (Shannon RFC/Munster) for Power (58), Will Wootton (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby) for Logan (60), Dylan Hicks (Garryowen FC/Munster) for Wisniewski (63), David Walsh (Terenure College RFC/Leinster) for Ronan (64), Eoghan Smyth (Cork Constitution FC/Munster) for O’Leary Kareem (65), Paddy Moore (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) for Bohan (67).

Referee: Tomas Bertazza (Argentina)