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Date Time Competition Season
19 March 2023 5:00 pm U20 Six Nations 2022/23

Match Report

Ireland U20’s Record Historic Consecutive Grand Slam On Irish Soil

Ireland U20's have recorded an historic back-to-back Grand Slam on Irish soil as they notched four second half tries to defeat 14-man England this evening.

Benevento 2007, Colwyn Bay 2019, Musgrave Park 2022 and now Musgrave Park again, a Grand Slam weekend for Irish rugby as the U20’s cap off another big season for development of underage ranks in the country.

Another bruising affair that ended with Ireland getting over the line, a red card for England certainly altered the dynamic of the tie, but they came back at the death and Fintan Gunne’s late try was the difference to put the game beyond doubt in the dying minutes.

It was a perfect start for the hosts as Sam Prendergast’s kick off put England under pressure from the off, the deep kick forced England to clear from just shy of their line and gave Ireland a lineout inside the English 22.

A first throw of the tie for Gus McCarthy but Diarmuid Mangan gathered and from the maul the Irish attack formed well, the forwards carrying nicely with an intense amount of pressure put on England, wave after wave of intense offence as the phases were ticking over and over the Irish forwards were creeping forward.

Big hits and big gains coming from the forwards as the English line held firm but Ireland threw everything at them in the hopes of getting a crucial score, the ball came out to Prendergast and he offloaded to the left wing, the pass completely catching England off guard and Galwegians and Connacht winger Hugh Gavin had time and space to cross for the opening try in the third minute, Prendergast seeing his conversion tail to the left and wide.

Attack turned to defence soon after as England won their own restart but Conor O'Tighearnaigh and Paddy McCarthy both made a great tackle on Danny Eite and won Ireland a crucial scrum to avoid an early mishap.

Minutes later a fantastic passage of play saw the hosts make 50 yards on the short side from their own half, fast hands saw the ball wide on the touchline to see McCarthy striding down the wing, he offloaded to John Devine, before he opted to go inside to Hugh Cooney, Cooney went back the way to McCarthy, tackles coming in the ball worked back inside to Fintan Gunne who had eyes for the line, but a brilliant Joseph Woodward tackle forced knock on, a big hit by the English centre stopped a certain try.

Ireland kept the pressure applied, England struggled to clear their lines, the hosts recycling possession well ran the phases once more, Prendergast showing his passing skill once again as he offloaded to James Nicholson on the right wing, he opted for a chip and chase ahead but Cassius Cleaves won the foot race and touched down over the try line.

Diarmuid Mangan stayed offside and this gave England a penalty to kick to touch, gain some yardage they could not put Ireland under some pressure, minutes later both Paddy McCarthy and Prendergast both were offside, the visitors failed to make any headway, but under the advantage Monty Bradbury kicked to the corner.

It was a clockwork move from England that brought them their opening try, from their lineout maul they had fast hands to work a quick move, Bradbury with the soft hands to offload to Tobias Elliott  he got back the cover to run-in under the posts, up stepped Sam Harris and he tapped over the close range conversion for the lead after 17 minutes of action.

Ireland would find themselves on the back foot after that try, penalised at the breakdown as Henry McErlean was punished for holding on, minutes later they were living in dangerous territory as McErlean produced a poor clearance effort but was spared the blushes as the ball was knocked forward by Finn Theobald-Thomas on the 22, the English hooker unable to hold onto the ball, a massive let off as the Irish man’s kick shanked along the surface.

Advantage all for England as they were stretching the Irish defence and yet another offside penalty gave the visitors a shot at more points, Elliot stepping up but his kick got held up in the breeze and the penalty dropped short for the Irish to clear. Gus McCarthy did well to win a penalty after the sustained pressure they were under, Prendergast's kick for touch went dead however, and they now had a scum inside the Irish half to defend.

Ireland won the breakdown contest after a counter attack, as Hugh Gavin showed his quality and skill set to earn a penalty, kicking to the corner, McCarthy threw well for another winning lineout, they formed the maul well and Brian Gleeson was at the back of the maul as they crashed over the line for the second try, Prendergast has a cleaner strike the second time of asking to convert and put Ireland ahead 12-7.

From the restart Elliott was penalised for being ahead of the kicker and Ireland were awarded a scrum on halfway, they worked the ball well in hand once again however Rekeiti Ma'asi-White won a penalty for Eng;and, he was quickest to the breakdown and as a result England could counter. 

England built up the phases in the Irish 22 as a result, looking to claw back a score after Ireland regained the lead, however a knock on by Finn Carnduff saw the move fail to materialise further and Ireland were awarded a big scrum to have possession in their own half close to goal.

But again minutes later England won another breakdown, however this time Prendergast claimed he was hit late, but the call was not deliberate by the referee, Ireland having to defend well but once possession went back their way, Gunne produced a beautiful chip over the English line to pin them back once more inside their 22.

With minutes left in the half possession and composure was key in those vital minutes, Ireland won a penalty but at the lineout which followed the kick to touch, Lewis Chessum turned over possession with a hand in to scoop the ball away, minutes later they had a great move down the left wing, putting ireland again under pressure but Greg Fisilau saw the ball spill from his hands after a routine pass and Ireland again could breathe, taking the same advantage to the break.

It was almost a calamitous start to the second half for Ireland, from the restart Ireland formed a ruck and Gunne opted to go for clearance from the back of the ruck, but it was blocked by Chessum and he raced the kick toward the Irish line and beat Prendergast to the touch down, the try was given on field by the referee but it was called back, after a lengthy TMO review reveal the Englishman was deemed to never have been in control and didn't put downward pressure on it, a massive moment to start the second off but also a let off.

Minutes later Mangan got on the wrong side of a tackle and conceded a penalty, England opted to go for the corner but a mistake at the lineout allowed Ireland to clear, minutes later the Irish had a penalty Afolabi Fasogbon going in high on Gunne, but nothing afterwards from the referee. Ireland did well to move and gain ground on the short side but they made an error and were penalised for a knock on, just after however England went wide and got held up in the tackle with a scrum awarded to Ireland.

England would soon find themselves down to 14 men, Ireland with a swift move looking to crash over for their third try, the English back line was stretched and Prendergast tried to pass it out to the far side, however Elliot blocked down the ball, TMO was needed to see if a penalty try was to be awarded but cover was back there and the English winger was sent to the bin.

From the penalty to touch, Chessum again got hands to the Irish lineout and England were able to clear outside their 22, the next lineout was Irish ball and they utilised their maul game to press towards the English line and George Hadden crossed the whitewash for the third try, Prendergast pulled the conversion wide, but a healthy lead had developed for Ireland

It went from bad to worse for England as they would lose another man this time permanently, McErlean raced out of the Irish half with an intense breakout and was hit late and spun in the tackle by Monty Bradbury in a 360 degree flip, the referee halted play to consult the TMO and deemed the tackle to be extremely dangerous and the English fly-half was sent off. McErlean needed a HIA after the hit.

England down to 13 men as Elliot was waiting to come back from the naughty step, were unable to hold out from the resulting drive Ireland made after the penalty, the forwards again doing the heavy lifting, Gunne almost made the line but was held up, in the end Gleeson bulldozed over for his second try, Prendergast nailing the conversion was a 24-7 lead.

The visitors responded by winning a penalty close to the Irish posts, instead of opting for the corner or going for a tap and go Harris pointed for the posts and this time from a much closer range was able to land the penalty.

Momentum stayed with ireland and while the man advantage was still there to carve open the English, a beautiful move and with space out wide Gavin raced in to collect Prendergast's cross kick to dot down, the out half key to the move stepped up and split the posts with his best conversion of the evening, Ireland dreaming as the scoreboard put them 21 points ahead, 31-10.

With ten minutes left England showed positive signs of life that they were still here to play a game, at the scrum they won a penalty but an error at the lineout which followed saw them unable to find a man, but minutes later they were over again for another try, working the possession, Joe Jenkins breaking the line and getting over with Sam Worsley notching a close range conversion.

That try may have given Ireland the jitters as minutes later Elliot dotted down in the corner for his second and England were right back in the tie, England worked the phases well on the attack and Elliot had all the time and space out wide, Worsley had a difficult task on his hand but he converted from the sideline and made it a one-score game.

Pressure was on Ireland but they hit back in emphatic fashion after the restart, having won their restart, they recycled the ball well and getting phase after phase of movement the forwards inched close to the line but no joy, that was until Gunne picked at the back of the ruck and sniped over to put the game to bed, Ireland Grand Slam Winners in back to back success for Richie Murphy’s side.

Ireland

15Henry McErlean Full-Back
14James Nicholson 23 Winger
13Hugh Cooney Centre
12John Devine 22 Centre
11Hugh Gavin Winger 3', 59'
10Sam Prendergast Fly-Half 28', 55', 61'
9Fintan Gunne 21 Scrum-Half 79'
1George Hadden 17 Prop 51'
2Gus McCarthy 16 Hooker
3Paddy McCarthy 18 Prop
4Diarmuid Mangan 19 Lock
5Conor Ó Tighearnaigh Lock
6James McNabney Flanker
7Ruadhan Quinn 20 Flanker
8Brian Gleeson No. 8 27', 54'
16Danny Sheahan 2 Hooker
17George Morris 1 Prop
18Fiachna Barrett 3 Prop
19Joe Hopes 4 Lock
20Liam Molony 7 Flanker
21Oscar Cawley 9 Scrum-Half
22Harry West 12 Fly-Half
23Andrew Osborne 14 Winger

England

15Sam Harris 22 Full-Back 17'
58'
14Cassius Cleaves Winger
13Rekeiti Ma’asi-White 23 Centre
12Joseph Woodward Centre
11Tobias Elliott Winger 16', 76'
49'
10Monty Bradbury Fly-Half 53'
9Charlie Bracken 21 Scrum-Half
1Archie McArthur 17 Prop
2Finn Theobald-Thomas 16 Hooker
3Afolabi Fasogbon 18 Prop
4Danny Eite 19 Lock
5Lewis Chessum Lock
6Finn Carnduff 20 Flanker
7Gregg Fisilau Flanker
8Chandler Cunningham-South No. 8
16Nathan Jibulu 2 Hooker
17Asher Opoku 1 Prop
18Tim Hoyt 3 Prop
19Rob Carmichael 4 Lock
20Tristan Woodman 6 Flanker
21Nye Thomas 9 Scrum-Half
22Sam Worsley 15 Fly-Half 71', 77'
23Joe Jenkins 13 Centre 71'

Past Meetings

(Round 5)
29 - 16
Six Nations
Aviva Stadium

Ireland v England

(Round 4)
69 - 0
Women's Six Nations
Twickenham Stadium

England v Ireland

(Round 4)
27 - 42
U20 Six Nations
Twickenham Stadium

England v Ireland

(Round 4)
15 - 32
Six Nations
Twickenham Stadium

England v Ireland

(Week 5)
32 - 18
Six Nations
Aviva Stadium

Ireland v England

Ground

Virgin Media Park
Tramore Rd, Ballyphehane, County Cork, Munster, T12KO39, Ireland

Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.