Six-Try Triumph Gets Ireland Under-20s Off To Encouraging Start

Leesider Jack Crowley shone under the Irish Independent Park floodlights as his 18-point haul helped the Ireland Under-20s to a 38-26 bonus point win over Scotland.

Match Photo Gallery: Ireland Under-20s 38 Scotland Under-20s 26

Grand Slam winners last year, Noel McNamara’s 2020 crop started their Six Nations journey with an encouraging victory, although they do have some scrum and defensive issues to iron out ahead of the visit of Wales next Friday.

A tight first half ended with a superb counter-attacking try from out-half and man-of-the-match Crowley – his second of the night – as the momentum shift steadied Ireland at 21-12 up. Indeed, by the eighth minute of the second half, the home side were 33-12 to the good.

Andrew Smith and Thomas Ahern added to those earlier seven-pointers from Crowley and Thomas Clarkson, but Scotland, despite conceding again to John McKee and losing Rufus McLean to the sin-bin, salvaged a bonus point with final quarter scores from Nathan Chamberlain and Cameron Scott.

Giving his reaction afterwards, Ireland head coach McNamara said: “I thought we were excellent in the first half, we took our tries really well. And we did the same at the start of the second half to put some distance between the teams on the scoreboard.

“The game broke up then and I was a bit disappointed with how we managed it. Credit to Scotland for coming back. We ended up playing a lot of the game in our own half, and there’s huge learnings for us against what was a more experienced Scottish side.

“It’s a good start nonetheless, it’s a starting point for us. Hopefully we can get a lot better from this performance. We’ll review it and the boys will go away and re-energise. There’s plenty for us to improve on as we move forward in the Championship.”

The defending champions were first to threaten, strong early carries from Hayden Hyde and the back row moving them down the pitch. Captain David McCann broke powerfully from a scrum on the edge of the Scottish 22, and he also drew a high tackle to keep the pressure on.

The opening try arrived from the resulting 10th-minute scrum, Dan Kelly attacking hard to the left and although his offload went loose, the ever-alert Crowley scooped it up, accelerated and spun out of a tackle to touch down. He comfortably knocked over the conversion.

Scotland hit back within five minutes, their forwards increasing their impact. Ireland will be disappointed with their tackling as they allowed Robbie McCallum to make ground before powerful hooker Ewan Ashman shrugged off a couple of tackles and made the line despite Smith’s last-ditch challenge.

Chamberlain’s conversion briefly brought Scotland level, but the Irish forwards soon exacted revenge. Towering lock Ahern and Sean O’Brien were both denied at close range before tighthead Clarkson drove low to ground the ball under a Scottish defender. Crowley converted for a 14-7 lead.

Mark Hernan saved a certain Scottish try from a surging lineout maul, following a turnover penalty by his opposite number Connor Boyle. Ireland were now under the pump defensively, giving away further penalties in their 22 and Jacob Henry was inches away from scoring from Chamberlain’s cross-field kick.

Opting from another scrum from a penalty in front of the posts, Scotland got the their just reward when some crisp back-line passing released winger Jack Blain for an unconverted effort by the left corner flag.

Increasingly-influential scrum half Lewis Finlay shot up to make some crucial tackles, helping to turn the tide approaching the interval. His half-back partner Crowley followed up with a stunning solo try, using a Rory Jackson knock-on to break from his own 22, speed clear and use a strong hand-off on Ollie Smith to finish off behind the posts.

Crowley added the extras, giving Ireland some hard-earned breathing space with a nine-point advantage. Importantly, they kept their foot on the gas on the resumption, stringing together two quick-fire tries to leave the Scots a full 21 points in arrears.

Busy flanker O’Brien impressed with a run in between two defenders and a pass out of a tackle for Smith to claim the bonus point from his left wing berth. Finlay held the ball steady on a windy night as Crowley kept up his 100% kicking record.

The Cork Constitution clubman suffered his only miss of the game just a few minutes later. Ireland countered up the right wing with lovely hands from McCann releasing his Ulster compatriot Tom Stewart. The hooker showed excellent pace as did the athletic Ahern who was up in support to finish off past stunned replacement winger McLean.

Scotland lifted their spirits with a try at the start of the final quarter. Centre Matthew Currie continued to threaten in midfield before the Irish defence was gradually worn down and number 10 Chamberlain used a clever dummy to scamper in under the posts and convert.

Both sides began to tire during the closing stages, but 18-year-old replacement lock Joe McCarthy brought a physical edge with a ball-dislodging tackle. The rock-solid Brian Deeny also carried forcefully as Ireland broke back into try-scoring range but were let down by a spill.

Scottish replacement McLean saw yellow for a clumsy challenge on Oran McNulty in the air, the latter turning a very efficient performance at full-back for Ireland. Replacement Alexis Soroka secured the resulting lineout and a big collective drive led to McKee plunging over with six minutes remaining.

Fellow replacement Tim Corkery’s well-struck conversion bounced back off the near post, and Scotland managed to have the final say. A spell of dominant scrummaging aided their late bonus point push and replacement Scott slithered through from 10 metres out.

TIME LINE: 10 minutes – Ireland try: Jack Crowley – 5-0; conversion: Jack Crowley – 7-0; 15 mins – Scotland try: Ewan Ashman – 7-5; conversion: Nathan Chamberlain – 7-7; 23 mins – Ireland try: Thomas Clarkson – 12-7; conversion: Jack Crowley – 14-7; 33 mins – Scotland try: Jack Blain – 14-12; conversion: missed by Nathan Chamberlain – 14-12; 39 mins – Ireland try: Jack Crowley – 19-12; conversion: Jack Crowley – 21-12; Half-time – Ireland 21 Scotland 12; 43 mins – Ireland try: Andrew Smith – 26-12; conversion: Jack Crowley – 28-12; 47 mins – Ireland try: Thomas Ahern – 33-12; conversion: missed by Jack Crowley – 33-12; 61 mins – Scotland try: Nathan Chamberlain – 33-17; conversion: Nathan Chamberlain – 33-19; 73 mins – Scotland yellow card: Rufus McLean; 74 mins – Ireland try: John McKee – 38-19; conversion: missed by Tim Corkery – 38-19; 80+5 mins – Scotland try: Cameron Scott – 38-24; conversion: Nathan Chamberlain – 38-26; Full-time – Ireland 38 Scotland 26

IRELAND U-20: Oran McNulty (Millfield School/Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht); Ethan McIlroy (Methody College/Queen’s University RFC/Ulster), Dan Kelly (Kirkham Grammar/Loughborough University/IQ Rugby), Hayden Hyde (Cranleigh School/Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster), Andrew Smith (St. Michael’s College/Clontarf FC/Leinster); Jack Crowley (Bandon RFC/Cork Constitution FC/Munster), Lewis Finlay (Down High School/Malone RFC/Ulster); Charlie Ward (Tullow RFC/Clontarf FC/Leinster), Tom Stewart (Belfast Royal Academy/Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster), Thomas Clarkson (Blackrock College/Dublin University FC/Leinster), Brian Deeny (Wexford Wanderers/Clontarf FC/Leinster), Thomas Ahern (Waterpark RFC/Shannon RFC/Munster), Sean O’Brien (Blackrock College/UCD RFC/Leinster), Mark Hernan (St. Michael’s College/Lansdowne FC/Leinster), David McCann (RBAI/Banbridge RFC/Ulster) (capt).

Replacements used: Ciaran Ryan (Rockwell College/Cashel RFC/Munster) for Ward (half-time-49 mins), Luis Faria (Newpark Comprehensive School/Dublin University FC/Leinster) for Hyde (51), John McKee (Campbell College/Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) for Stewart, Ryan for Ward (both 58), Joe McCarthy (Blackrock College/Dublin University FC/Leinster) for Ahern (64), Alexis Soroka (Belvedere College/Dublin University FC/Leinster) for Hernan, Tim Corkery (Kilkenny RFC/Lansdowne FC/Leinster) for Crowley (both 73), Ryan McMahon (Clongowes Wood College/Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) for McCann (76), Ben Murphy (Presentation College Bray/Clontarf FC/Leinster) for Finlay (76).

SCOTLAND U-20: Ollie Smith (Ayrshire Bulls); Jacob Henry (Southern Knights), Matthew Currie (Watsonians Rugby), Robbie McCallum (Boroughmuir Bears), Jack Blain (Heriot’s Rugby); Nathan Chamberlain (Hartpury College/Bristol Bears), Roan Frostwick (Watsonians Rugby); Alex Maxwell (Stourbridge), Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks), Mak Wilson (Southern Knights), Kieran Watt (Watsonians Rugby), Cameron Henderson (Stirling County), Jack Hill (Durham University), Connor Boyle (Watsonians Rugby), Rory Darge (Southern Knights) (capt).

Replacements used: Rory Jackson (Watsonians Rugby) for Ashman (36 mins-half-time; 78), Thomas Lambert (Sydney University) for Maxwell (45), Rufus McLean for Blain (46), Kyle McGhie (Boroughmuir Bears) for Frostwick, Jamie Campbell (Biggar) for Watt, Gregor Bown (Boroughmuir Bears) for Hill (all 63), George Breese (Stirling Wolves) for Wilson (65), Cameron Scott (Boroughmuir Bears) for McCallum (75), McCallum for McLean (80+3).

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)