Match report: Ireland U20 v Scotland U20
12 Jul 2022Scotland U20 concluded theirUnder-20 Summer Series in Treviso after a battling encounter against Ireland.
Ireland took the lead in opening minutes of the game, when a chip over the top was caught by Daniel Hawkshaw who stepped the last defender and scored.
They soon added to their tally with a second try in the 10th minute as Scott Wilson crashed over from short range.
Ireland showed good handling to work the ball from left to right as Aitzol King stretched for the line to score their third.
The young Irish side grabbed a fourth through Sam Prendergast who finished off after his side had kicked a penalty to the corner.
After a period of strong sustained play with ball in hand, Scotland got on the scoreboard. Just meters out from the try line in the 22nd minute, Gabe Jones did well to stay infield on the left and offload the ball to Paddy Harrison who forced his way over from close range for his fourth try of the tournament.
From the restart, George Gibbons caught the ball and ran through to restore Ireland’s four try lead.
Scotland thought they had a second try as Keiran Clark broke through the wall of green and chipped over, but he was deemed to have knocked it forward before Andy Stirrat gathered and crossed the whitewash.
Rallied by the positive momentum, Scotland scored a second on the stroke of half time, as Euan Cunningham kicked a penalty to the corner and Harrison marked his second try of the day from a driving maul.
Half time: Ireland U20 29-14 Scotland U20
Scotland had the better of the opening stages in the second half, and after Ireland were penalised at the ruck, Cunningham opted to kick for goal. The ball sailed through the uprights and the deficit was reduced to 12.
But Ireland grabbed their sixth try in the 54th minute as a penalty was tapped quickly from five metres out and Diarmuid Mangan went over.
And they had another in the 69th minute as Shay McCarthy caught a cross-field kick and dived over.
Scotland responded quickly with a break from Andy Stirrat before Ollie Leatherbarrow reached the line a phase later.
The final minutes were scrappy and though they pushed, Scotland could not reduce the gap any further.
Full time: Ireland U20 41-24 Scotland U20
Scotland: 15. Keiran Clark 14. Kerr Johnston 13. Duncan Munn 12. Andy Stirrat 11. Gabe Jones 10. Euan Cunningham 9. Ben Afshar 1. Iain Carmichael 2. Patrick Harrison 3. Callum Norrie 4. Josh Taylor 5. Max Williamson 6. Rhys Tait CAPTAIN 8. Ollie Leatherbarrow 7. Gregor Hiddleston
Replacements: 16. Duncan Hood 17. Ali Rogers 18. Gregor Scougall 19. James Lascelles 20. Jake Spurway 21. Tim Brown 22. Thomas Glendinning 23. Ross McKnight 24. Liam McConnell 25. Rudi Brown 26. Finlay Burgess
Ireland: 15. Patrick Campbell 14. Aitzol King 13. Fionn Gibbons 12. Daniel Hawkshaw 11. George Coomber 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Andrew O’Mahony 1. George Hadden 2. Josh Hanlon 3. Scott Wilson 4. Charlie Irvine 5. Adam McNamee 6. Diarmuid Mangan 7. Reuben Crothers 8. Lorcan McLoughlin
Replacements: 16. Dominic Rhys Hey 17. Kieran Ryan 18. Joseph Mawhinney 19. George Shaw 20. Ronan O’Sullivan 21. Michael Moloney 22. Harry West 23. Shay McCarthy 24. Reece Malone 25. Oisin Michel 26. James McCormick
