Ireland Under-20 59 Scotland Under-20 5
It was an evening of celebration in Cork, any nervous tension about a mis-step in the final match removed within the first quarter. Ireland won as they pleased against a Scotland side that could offer little in the way of meaningful resistance. It was the celebratory occasion for which a capacity crowd had wished before a ball was kicked.
Richie Murphy's young charges claimed Ireland's third Grand Slam in the Under-20 Six Nations Championship in emphatic fashion, scoring nine tries in the process and bringing to an end a marvellous campaign for the group.
The team, brilliantly led by the outstanding captain Reuben Crothers, had several standout performers in what was an excellent collective effort; Mark Morrissey, James Culhane, Charlie Tector and Jude Postlethwaite added value every time they touched the ball, but in truth in seems invidious to single out individuals because the Grand Slam success has been underpinned by the team ethic.
Ireland settled into their playing rhythm on five minutes when Rory McGuire grabbed a ball that went loose from a Scottish lineout. The home side pummelled their way to within four metres from the Scotland line before Jack Boyle muscled his way through several tacklers to dot down by the posts; one for the frontrow.
Six minutes later and it was Crothers that snaffled the turnover, the excellent Conor O’Tighearnaigh took the ball into contact and from there Ireland were decisive and accurate in their passing and running lines as Fionn Gibbons stepped inside a defender to score in the corner.
The third and fourth tries were down to a large dollop of good fortune. Postlethwaite made the initial break and ended up scoring in the corner after Matthew Devine regathered a fly-hack that spun horribly for Scottish fullback Robin McClintock.
The fourth came from a speculative chip and chase from the excellent Tector, a precipitous bounce favouring the home side as the ball jagged backwards and into the hands of the waiting number eight Culhane. Patrick Campbell, impressive in all his duties, was forced off with a head injury and was replaced by Chay Mullins.
Just before the interval Ireland crossed for a fifth try, this time hard-working centre Ben Carson, who finished off a powerful, direct carry from secondrow Mark Morrissey that scattered tacklers before him. Tector kicked four of the five conversions and at 33-0 would not have envisaged such a comfortable interval lead.
Ireland warmed their shoulders for the first 10 minutes of the second half but despite some decent ball retention and aggressive carrying Scotland’s enterprise was undone in the Irish 22 with yet another handling error.
Mullins restarted the party atmosphere with a superb break and from his inside pass, Devine dropped the ball on to his foot, chased and collected his own grubber kick without breaking stride to score his team’s six try, the young Galway man’s fourth of the tournament.
The Irish halfbacks left the pitch thereafter along with the excellent McGuire to a standing ovation. Hooker James McCormick scored Ireland’s seventh try, nestling at the back of a driving lineout maul. The rest of the Irish bench arrived to welcome the final quarter.
Ireland conceded four penalties in quick succession, Postlethwaite singled out for what was a team accumulation of offences. Scotland did get the try that their second-half spirit and endeavour deserved through right wing Ross McKnight.
The home side reached the half century of points when replacement hooker Josh Hanlon chose a great line to power through a gap and run the final 15 metres untouched; from a team perspective it was arguably the try of the night given the nice interplay between backs and forwards in the build-up.
As the crowd found their voice for one last time and serenaded the team with the Fields of Athenry, the team responded with Gibbons’s second try of the night, breaking the sequence of eight different try scorers. It was a fitting epitaph to a superb campaign.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 5 mins: Boyle try, Tector con, 7-0; 11: Gibbons try, 12-0; 23: Postlethwaite try, Tector con, 19-0; 33: Culhane try, Tector con, 26-0; 39: Carson try, Tector con, 33-0. Half-time: 33-0. 52: Devine try, 38-0; 58: McCormick try, Butler con, 45-0; 71: McKnight try, 41-5; 75: Hanlon try, Butler con, 52-5; 79: Gibbons try, Butler con, 59-5.
IRELAND UNDER-20: P Campbell (Young Munster); A King (Clontarf), J Postlethwaite (Banbridge), B Carson (Banbridge), F Gibbons (UCD); C Tector (Lansdowne), M Devine (Galway Corinthians); J Boyle (UCD), J McCormick (Ballymena), R McGuire (UCD); C O'Tighearnaigh (UCD), M Morrissey (UCD); L McLoughlin (QUB), R Crothers (Ballynahinch, capt), J Culhane (UCD).
Replacements: C Mullins (Bristol Bears) for Campbell (HIA, 37 mins); E Coughlan (Shannon) for Devine, T Butler (Garryowen) for Tector, S Wilson (QUB) for McGuire (all 56); J Hanlon (Ballynahinch) for McCormick, O Michel Lansdowne) for Boyle (both 60); A McNamee (Malone) for Morrisse, D Mangan (UCD) for Culhane (both 61). Yellow card: Postlethwaite (69).
SCOTLAND UNDER-20: R McClintock (Montpellier); R McKnight (Glasgow Warriors), D Munn (Glasgow Warriors), A Stirrat (GHA), B Evans (Edinburgh); C Townsend (Glasgow Warriors), M Redpath (Newcastle University); M Jones (Edinburgh), P Harrison (Edinburgh), G Scougall (Currie Chieftains); J Taylor (Ealing Trailfinders), Max Williamson (Glasgow Warriors); M Deehan (Newcastle Falcons); R Tait (Glasgow Warriors, capt), T Brown (Glasgow Hawks).
Replacements: K Clark (Southern Knights) for McLintock (28 mins); A Rogers (Glasgow Hawks) for Jones (44); J Cope (Durham University) for Redpath, I Hill (Ealing Trailfinders) for Deehan, C Bowker (Fylde) for Scougall (all 60 mins); R Gordon (Exeter University) for Tait (68); D Hood (Bath University) for Harrison (70); T Glendinning (Glasgow Hawks) for McKnight (72).
Referee: F Vedovelli (Italy).
