Three-try burst ends Irish losing streak

IRELAND U20’s head coach Mike Ruddock saluted an improved defensive display as his side secured their first win in this year’s IRB Junior World Championship with a 30-13 defeat of Scotland in Rovigo onSaturday night.

The Irish conceded 10 tries in their opening two fixtures in Pool C, against England and South Africa, but they proved far more organised and disciplined in defence against the Scots. Indeed, Ruddock’s troops had victory secured with a stunning burst of three tries in the space of five minutes, through winger Andrew Conway, centre Luke Marshall and captain Niall Annett, by the time Scotland managed to break through when Danny Gilmour got over in the dying seconds.

With both sides having lost their opening two games and having no chance of making the semi-finals, the game at the Stadio Mario Battaglini was essentially a straight shoot-out for a place in the play-offs for fifth to eight place.

That made for a fiercely competitive encounter but also a high-pressure one which was characterised by poordecision-making and littered with knock-ons, and a low-quality first-half ended with Ireland 6-3 ahead, fly-half Paddy Jackson having outscored his opposite number Duncan Weir by two penalties to one.

Jackson struck again early in the second-half only to see Weir reply with 13 minutes remaining to set up a tense finale. However, the pressure thatIreland had been putting their opponents under in both the scrum and the lineout throughout themajority of the second-half finally reaped rewards in the closing stages.

First, Conway was left with a simple finish for his fourth try in three games after a terrific break from centre Brendan Macken before Marshall cruised over after a powerful surge down the right flank by lock Iain Henderson. Ireland then looked set to claim the unlikeliest of bonus points when Annett bounded through to score after good work from replacements Daniel Qualter and David Doyle. However, a spirited Scotland registered a deserved consolation score through centre Gilmour just before the final whistle.

By that point, though, thoughts had already turned to the play-offs andanother meeting with South Africa, who failed to make the semis afterdefeat by England saw them pipped to the best runners-up spot by Australia on points difference. It will be another quick turnaround, with Ireland and the Baby Boks set to lock horns in Padova on Wednesday, but Ruddock will again have a full squad to choose from, as he reported a clean bill of health after Saturday’s morale-boosting win.

IRELAND: T O’Halloran (C Gilroy, 65); A Conway, B Macken, L Marshall, A Boyle; P Jackson (J McKinney, 72), K Marmion (P du Toit, 72); J Tracy, N Annett, T Furlong (C Carey, 74); M Kearney (D Qualter, 69), I Henderson; E McKeon, D Gallagher (D Doyle, 69), J Murphy (S Buckley, 79).

SCOTLAND: G Bryce; S Atkin, M Bennett, D Gilmour, K Gossman (J Stevenson, 65); D Weir (S Edwards, 75), S Kennedy; A Allan (R Hislop, 64), D Cherry (R Ferguson, 43), C Phillips (G Hunter, 54); M Todd, R McAlpine (J Swanson, 54); M Eadie, H Watson, J Tyas (A Spence, 72).

Referee: G Garner (England).