Ireland Under-20s Leak Last-Minute Try In Titanic Tussle With England

Tom Willis’ last-minute try ruined the Ireland Under-20s’ final quarter fight-back as England won a titanic World Rugby U-20 Championship play-off 30-23 in awful underfoot conditions in Rosario.

Noel McNamara’s youngsters erased a 14-point deficit with back-to-back tries from Jonathan Wren and replacement Brian Deeny on the 70-minute mark. Ben Healy nailed a conversion tight to the left touchline as part of his 13-point kicking haul.

However, despite losing a third player to the sin-bin – replacement Rusiate Tuima for a high tackle on Deeny – it was 14-man England who produced the stronger finish in the mud-fest as Willis bundled his way over in the dying seconds.

Ireland’s only defeat in three meetings with England this season will see them face New Zealand in Saturday’s 7th-8th place play-off at the same Club Old Resian venue (kick-off 1pm local time/5pm Irish time). The Baby Blacks lost 8-7 to Wales whose out-half Cai Evans kicked a late match-winning penalty.

Proud of the all-round effort as they soldier on with a 11-man injury list, Ireland captain Charlie Ryan said: “It would have been easy for us just to tap out at 14 down, so (I’m) really proud of the boys to come back. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for us in the end. That happens in a game of rugby, but really proud of the performance from the lads.

“We’re a confident group, we would have backed ourselves to win this game. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for us. We’ll go again and we’ve one more game to go at the weekend. 100% we can beat New Zealand.”

Ted Hill’s tip tackle left England down to 14 men after just seven minutes, with in-form number 10 Healy pinging over the opening penalty soon after. Busy winger Wren stood out for his work under the high ball, while Ryan, Thomas Ahern and Ryan Baird put the English lineout under constant pressure and Healy’s kicks out of hand were also very effective.

Josh Hodge, who finished with a handsome 20-point tally, briefly drew England level with a cracking long-range 18th-minute penalty, but Healy responded from distance just three minutes later as he punished an offside from Richard Capstick. Debutant winger Aaron O’Sullivan’s hard chase of a box-kick kept Ireland on the front foot.

Following a bulldozing carry from the excellent Baird, England loosehead Kai Owen saw yellow for a high tackle on his opposite number Michael Milne but Healy missed the subsequent penalty. Indeed, Ireland lost their momentum past the half-hour mark as goal-kicking winger Hodge grew in influence.

The Newcastle Falcons clubman squared things up after Craig Casey was caught offside from a scrum, and then a strong scrum platform allowed the English backs to launch a clinical attack out wide. Tom de Glanville was able to set up Hodge for a jinking run to the try-line, moving Steve Bates’ side into a 13-6 half-time lead.

Healy quickly closed the gap to four points on the resumption, only for replacement prop Josh Wycherley to roll away slowly and give Hodge the opportunity to make it 16-9. With England’s bulky scrum on top, scrum half Sam Maunder was able to stretch out and score off a five-metre scrum in the 55th minute.

Hodge added the extras to put two converted scores between the teams and the Grand Slam champions had it all to do on a rain-soaked pitch that had cut up badly. Yet again though, Ireland shown their undoubted character and resilience to battle through hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin’s sin-binning for a high tackle on Hodge, and their hard work was eventually rewarded.

Ireland’s lineout threats continued to cause problems for England, who lost six of their own throws. The Irish forwards plugged away in the left corner through a series of scrums, and although Wycherley was held up, quick ball from a five-metre scrum was cleverly moved to the short side by Casey and Healy and some neat footwork took Wren over for a much-needed try.

A smashing conversion from Healy lifted Ireland further, and they were suddenly back on level terms after a brilliantly opportunist seven-pointer from the recently-arrived Deeny. He blocked down Maunder’s attempted kick at the back of a ruck, scooped up the ball and showed a great turn of pace on a memorable 40-metre charge to the line.

Ireland appeared to hold the edge after Tuima received his yellow in the 74th minute, but the card actually inspired the best out of England. Having disrupted an Irish maul, their pack carried through 25 phases on their next possession, and then a big surge from Luke James led to fellow replacement Willis piling over from a couple of metres out.

TIME LINE: 7 minutes – England yellow card: Ted Hill; 11 mins – Ireland penalty: Ben Healy – 3-0; 18 mins – England penalty: Josh Hodge – 3-3; 21 mins – Ireland penalty: Ben Healy – 6-3; 28 mins – England yellow card: Kai Owen; 28 mins – Ireland penalty: missed by Ben Healy – 6-3; 34 mins – England penalty: Josh Hodge – 6-6; 36 mins – England try: Josh Hodge – 6-11; conversion: Josh Hodge – 6-13; Half-time – Ireland 6 England 13; 45 mins – Ireland penalty: Ben Healy – 9-13; 47 mins – England penalty: Josh Hodge – 9-16; 55 mins – England try: Sam Maunder – 9-21; conversion: Josh Hodge – 9-23; 58 mins – Ireland yellow card: Dylan Tierney-Martin; 70 mins – Ireland try: Jonathan Wren – 14-23; conversion: Ben Healy – 16-23; 72 mins – Ireland try: Brian Deeny – 21-23; conversion: Ben Healy – 23-23; 74 mins – England yellow card: Rusiate Tuima; 80+1 mins – England try: Tom Willis – 23-28; conversion: Josh Hodge – 23-30; Full-time – Ireland 23 England 30

IRELAND U-20: Jake Flannery (Shannon/Munster); Aaron O’Sullivan (UCD/Leinster), Liam Turner (Dublin University/Leinster), David Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Jonathan Wren (Cork Constitution/Munster); Ben Healy (Garryowen/Munster), Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster); Michael Milne (UCD/Leinster), Dylan Tierney-Martin (Corinthians/Connacht), Charlie Ward (Clontarf/Leinster), Charlie Ryan (UCD/Leinster) (capt), Thomas Ahern (Shannon/Munster), Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster), Ronan Watters (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Azur Allison (Ballymena/Ulster).

Replacements used: Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster) for Ward, Josh Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster) for Milne, Angus Kernohan (Queen’s University/Ulster) for O’Sullivan (all half-time), Niall Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht) for C Ryan (43-52, temp sub), Declan Adamson (Clontarf/Leinster) for Kernohan (60-69, temp sub), Brian Deeny (Clontarf/Leinster) for Allison (60), Luke Clohessy (Shannon/Munster) for Watters (80).

ENGLAND U-20: Tom de Glanville (Bath); Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints) (capt), Cameron Redpath (Sale Sharks), Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons); Manu Vunipola (Saracens), Sam Maunder (Exeter Chiefs); Kai Owen (Worcester Warriors), Will Capon (Bristol Bears), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Joel Kpoku (Saracens), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs), Aaron Hinkley (Gloucester), Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors).

Replacements used: Olly Adkins (Gloucester) for Sleightholme (31-40 mins, temp sub), Luke James (Sale Sharks) for de Glanville (45), Tom Willis (Wasps) for Hinkley, Adkins for Owen (both 52), Nic Dolly (Sale Sharks) for Capon (60), Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs) for Kpoku (71), James Kenny (Exeter Chiefs) for Heyes (73), Ollie Fox (Yorkshire Carnegie) for Maunder (75).

Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)