Report: Ireland U18 38-21 Scotland U18

Scotland took their first real opportunity to open the scoring. After a maul on the right, the ball was worked out to the left wing. Christian Lindsay was then hauled down a metre short a phase later, and Harvey Preston had the presence of mind to spot a gap at the side of the ruck and dive over. Ben MacDougall knocked over a tricky conversion. (0-7, 8 mins)

But Ireland responded quickly, and when James Browne broke the line he stepped round the last defender and went over for the score. (7-7. 10 mins)

The lead was regained by Scotland in the 22nd minute, as David Barrie broke down the right and found Luca Mathieson. His excellent one-handed offload inside was caught by Gregor Johnston, who dived over. MacDougall again split the uprights with the conversion. (7-14, 22 mins)

It again wasn’t long before the side in green hit back. It was Browne again on the right after Geoff O’Sullivan was brought down five metres short and offloaded from the ground. (14-14, 26 mins)

Ireland reached the line with the final play of the first half, but resolute and determined defending around the breakdown from the Scottish forwards caused a knock-on which brought the opening half to an end.

Half time: Ireland U18 14-14 Scotland U18

The second half started in disappointing fashion for Scotland. A penalty for a high tackle on halfway lead to an Ireland attack down the left, and after Lee Fitzpatrick was stopped just short, Harry Goslin could not be stopped as he stretched for the line. (21-14, 37 mins)

Fitzpatrick could not be stopped when he went again just three minutes later, as the ball was whipped from right to left to the hooker who dummied his man and went over untouched. (26-14, 40 mins)

Browne then secured his hat-trick, diving into the left corner just before the covering Scottish defenders could do anything about it. (33-14, 51 mins)

A sixth and final score for Ireland came despite good maul defence from Scotland, as Jonathan Ginnety was able to scramble over from close range. (38-14, 63 mins)

With the final play, Joe Taylor stepped inside his man and grounded under pressure after a good maul from the forwards for a consolation score that was converted by MacDougall. (38-21, 70 mins)

Full time: Ireland U18 38-21 Scotland U18

Head Coach Ross Miller said: “We are happy with the first half performance. Solid sets of defence, we exploited good spaces to attack, and a clear progression from the first game which is what we asked of the players. Our tactical decision-making is still an area for development but we are moving in the right direction.

“The two quick tries straight after half time was the difference and it allowed Ireland to go to their kicking game in the wet conditions and keep us pinned back.

“We’ve got one more game to continue our progression with this group, again we’ll use our 3 days to recover and to prepare for another difficult test against a team that have competed well with France and England.”

Ireland: 15. Andrew Henson 14. Geoff O’Sullivan 13. Bobby Colbert
12. Bernard White 11. James Browne  10. Charlie O’Connor 9. Luke Coffey 1. James Gould 2. Lee Fitzpatrick CAPTAIN 3. Harry Goslin 4. Jamie Walsh 5. Leo Anic 6. Jonathan Ginnety 7. Geoff Wall 8. Ben Moore

Replacements: 16. Nathan Noble 17. Ben Guerin 18. Jamie Bohan 19. Adam Boyd 20. Jon Rodgers 21. Connor McVicker 22. Paul Neary 23. Ronan Kelly 24. Fionn Rowsome 25. Frank Maher

Scotland: 15. David Barrie 14. Luca Mathieson 13. Will Corbett 12. Harry Clark 11. Ben McDonald 10. Ben MacDougall 9. Gregor Johnston 1. Logan Hendrie 2. Jack Utterson 3. Oliver Anderson 4. Will Lockhart 5. Christian Lindsay CAPTAIN 6. Harry Jackaman 7. Harvey Preston 8. Dan Casserly

Replacements: 16. Jack Nesbitt 17. Max Morrison 18. Jackson Rennie 19. Dan Shellard 20. Ashton Young 21. Cameron Trayler 22. Lloyd Moncrieff 23. Henry Widdowson 24. Joe Taylor 25. Rory McHaffie