Ireland U20s remain unbeaten in dominant display over Wales
UNBEATEN: Bryn Ward of Ireland is tackled by Huw Anderson of Wales during the U20 Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and Wales at Virgin Media Park in Cork. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Ireland romped past Wales to continue their unbeaten start to their Under-20 Six Nations championship title defence with an impressive six-try performance at Cork’s Virgin Media Park on Friday night.
Two tries from replacement hooker Danny Sheahan, and fellow Corkonians Sean Edogbo and Ben O’Connor headlined the victory in front of a record, sell-out crowd of 8,400.
Centre Hugh Gavin and starting hooker Henry Walker also scored in the bonus-point victory that saw Ireland pick up where they left off before the down week, having opened their 2024 campaign with 37-31 win away to France and a home defeat of Italy in a nail-biting 23-22 victory.
If this was a similar final outcome for the reigning back-to-back Grand Slam winners, the performance against Wales was altogether more convincing than that which finally got Ireland over the line on the same field a fortnight earlier.
Wales had beaten their Scottish counterparts 37-29 in Colwyn Bay in round one but had been downed 28-7 by England in Bath last time out and both teams were looking for improved performances.
It was Ireland who delivered to give Richie Murphy his 14th Six Nations victory as Under-20s boss in a week which saw him named interim Ulster head coach to replace Dan McFarland at the conclusion of the championship next month.
In conditions made difficult by steady rain for the first 55 minutes that made handling tricky throughout, the teams traded blows early, a penalty apiece from Jack Murphy and his Welsh fly-half counterpart Harri Wilde inside the first 14 minutes. Wales hooker Harry Thomas had been sin-binned for a no-arms tackle on nine minutes from the restart following Murphy’s three-pointer, and Ireland took full advantage on 18 minutes when flanker Sean Edogbo made it two tries in as many starts.
Edogbo, from nearby Cobh Pirates and the younger brother of Munster forward Edwin, had claimed the winning try against Italy and he grabbed the opener this time around, from short-range with Murphy adding the conversion to open a 10-3 lead.
Ireland had to wait until just before half-time for their second try but it was a decisive blow as inside centre Hugh Gavin crashed over from short range, Murphy’s two-point kick stretching the home lead to 17-3 at the interval.
It did not take long after the restart for that Ireland lead to be extended as Ireland calmly went about their business, exploiting a Wales error at a crooked lineout to kick their way into left-hand corner, a maul penalty leading to a five-metre throw from which the champions drove over, hooker Henry Walker touching down and Murphy’s conversion moving the Irish into a 24-3 lead with 35 minutes to go.
Wales had not thrown in the towel, though, and they responded almost immediately to Ireland’s third try, replacement fly-half Harri Ford making a sharp break through traffic and down the right wing before passing inside to support runner Ieuan Davies, the scrum-half enjoying a free coast over the Irish line to close the gap to 24-8, Ford having missed the wide conversion.
The comeback was shortlived, however, as Wales once again could find no answer to Ireland’s lineout drive. Try scorer Walker was replaced by fellow hooker Danny Sheahan on 55 minutes and the new man carried on the good work of his predecessor with two tries inside the next 11 minutes, the first bringing up the bonus point with Murphy converting one and missing the second.
The Welsh lost replacement hooker Evan Wood to a yellow card to add to their woes and Ireland punished them further, full-back Ben O’Connor the next hometown tryscorer after Edogbo and Sheahan in the 73rd minute. With fly-half Murphy having made way for Sean Naughton, the replacement’s conversion from in front of the posts pushed Ireland through the 40-point barrier and onto the next stage of their quest for a hat-trick of Grand Slams, a trip to Bath to face fellow unbeaten side England in the penultimate round on March 8.
: B O’Connor; F Treacy, W de Klerk, H Gavin (D Colbert, 65), H McLaughlin; J Murphy (S Naughton, 68), O Coffey; B Howard (A Usanov, 52), H Walker (D Sheahan, 55), P Bell (E Calvey, 52); J Hopes (B Corrigan, 62), E O’Connell – captain; S Edogbo, B Ward, L Murphy (T Brigg, 67).
: H Anderson; H Rees-Weldon (M Page, 55), L Hennessey, H Ackerman – captain, W Price; H Wilde (H Ford, 32), I Davies; J Morse (J Morris, 48), H Thomas (E Wood, 57), S Scott (K Hire, 45); J Green (O Conquer, 45), N Thomas (W Plessis, 77); O Thomas, H Beddall (E Wood, 10-19 - yc, H Thomas 68-76 - yc), L De La Rua.
: H Thomas 9-19, E Wood 66-76
: Federico Vedovelli (Italy).
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