Heartbreak as Ireland’s young stars just miss out on semi-final

Ireland U20s were denied a semi-final berth at the IRB Junior World Championship as hosts South Africa scored a bonus-point win over England to top their pool last night.

Ireland had earlier yesterday got maximum points from their Cape Town Stadium victory over Italy, securing their second win from three in Pool B having also beaten the Junior Springboks in their first game. Their midweek loss to England, though, was to prove costly as the South Africans prevailed 28-15 in their final match against the Red Rose to advance as pool winners by a single point, with incoming Munster coach Rob Penney’s defending champions New Zealand securing best runner-up spot.

Against Italy, Ireland had quickly set about fulfilling their part of the obligation, going three converted tries up inside the first eight minutes.