Not To Be For Ireland And Ireland U20s

Ireland and the Ireland U20s suffered defeats at the hands of South Africa and England in their respective tournaments on Saturday.

It was a dramatic ending to Ireland's tour of South Africa with the hosts claiming a Test series win after they held out for a 19-13 victory in Port Elizabeth on Saturday evening.

The result saw South Africa claim a 2-1 triumph in a hard-fought Test series, which saw Ireland edge the opener, in a first ever win over the Springboks on home soil, before the hosts battled back for the final two encounters. 

South Africa Scorers
Tries:  JP Pietersen  Cons: Elton Jantjies  Pen: Elton Jantjies 3, Ruan Combrinck 

Ireland Scorers
Tries:  Luke Marshall; Cons: Paddy Jackson; Pen: Paddy Jackson 2

Ireland: Tiernan O'Halloran, Andrew Trimble, Luke Marshall, Stuart Olding, Keith Earls, Paddy Jackson, Conor Murray, Jack McGrath, Rory Best, Mike Ross, Iain Henderson, Devin Toner, CJ Stander, Jordi Murphy, Jamie Heaslip.  Replacements: Sean Cronin, Finlay Bealham, Tadhg Furlong, Ultan Dillane, Rhys Ruddock, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan, Matt Healy.

In what was a first World Rugby U20 Championship final for Ireland U20s, their English counterparts proved too strong when recording a 45-21 victory in Manchester on Saturday night.

Nigel Carolan's young guns were unable to get a foothold in the first half as the dominant hosts touched down through Joe Marchant, Callum Chick and Huw Taylor.

The closing 40 minutes were much more competitive as the sides shared out six tries – Adam McBurney, Shane Daly and Max Deegan all crossed for Ireland – but captain and man-of-the-match Harry Mallinder, who collected 25 points, ensured a third World Rugby U20 title in four years for England.

It was a frustrating conclusion to the tournament for Ireland, who had overcome defending champions New Zealand, Grand Slam winners Wales and Argentina on the way to the country's best ever finish of second which is hugely positive for the future of Irish Rugby.

Ireland U20 Scorers
Tries: Adam McBurney, Shane Daly, Max Deegan; Cons: Johnny McPhillips 2, Brett Connon

England U20 Scorers
Tries: Joe Marchant 2, Callum Chick, Huw Taylor, Harry Mallinder 2; Cons: Harry Mallinder 6; Pen: Harry Mallinder

Ireland U20s: Jacob Stockdale (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster); Matthew Byrne (Terenure College/Leinster), Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster), Conor O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster), Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster); Johnny McPhillips (Queen's University/Ulster), Stephen Kerins (Sligo/Connacht); Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Adam McBurney (Ballymena/Ulster), Ben Betts (Young Munster/Munster), Sean O'Connor (Cashel/Munster), James Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster) (capt), Greg Jones (UCD/Leinster), David Aspil (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster).

Replacements used: Jimmy O'Brien (UCD/Leinster) for C O'Brien (56 mins), Brett Connon (Newcastle Falcons/Exiles) for McPhillips (57), Kelvin Brown (Shannon/Munster) for Aspil, Vincent O'Brien (Cork Constitution/Munster) for McBurney (both 62), Niall Saunders (Harlequins/Exiles) for Kerins, Evan Mintern (Cork Constitution/Munster) for O'Connor (both 70), Adam Coyle (Naas/Leinster) for Betts (76). Not used: James Bollard (Dublin University/Leinster).

On a further positive Ireland U20s number 8 Max Deegan went on to be awarded the World Rugby U20s Player of the Tournament.

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