England’s big-time know-how too much for brave Ireland

England 45 Ireland 21: Twenty-one points was enough to win each of the two previous World Rugby U20 Championship finals and only twice has a team scored more than that and lost, but you got the impression at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday evening that no matter what Ireland scored, England would nab more.

The start that Ireland craved went England’s way and so too did the marginal referee calls and those two factors combined to take the oxygen out of Nigel Carolan’s side in their bid for a first ever World Rugby U20 Championship.

Their maiden appearance at this level was no disgrace against an English side who have appeared in seven of the nine finals — winning three — but there were times when you feared that the hosts were going to mount a huge score.