Schools Beaten By England

An injury time try from PBC’s Peter O’Mahony, converted by Castletroy’s Rnan O’Mahony helped Ireland Schools put a respectable face on this 23-12 defeat by England Schools.

Ireland U18 Schools narrowly lost 23-12 to England in the final of the U18 Schools 6 nations Tournament in Glasgow.  

Following their wins over Italy and France, Ireland entered this game with plenty of confidence and although England went ahead in the 13th minute through a penalty, the Irish pack got on top for the remainder of the first half and grabbed their first try shortly before the break when Gonzaga scrum half Matthew Healy plunged over from close range, after a neat catch and drive effort off a lineout. 

Madigan missed the conversion as Ireland led 5-3 at the break.  England defended well against an onslaught by the Ireland team and eventually soaked up the pressure and broke out to nose themselves into a 6-5 lead courtesy of a 42nd-minute penalty from Miller. 

The game slowly began to slip from Ireland’s grasp as England’s backs made use of the minimal space they were afforded and scored two more tries, both of which was converted.  

Ireland then reduced the arrears back to eight points after another lineout attack saw the Irish in for a converted try in the 76th-minute. Fittingly, Irish skipper and number eight Peter O’Mahony, who never stopped working, was credited with the score. 

Replacement Ronan O’Mahony added the extras to his namesake’s try, yet there was still time for England to have the final say with a third penalty from Miller. 

David Kearney (Clongowes Wood College); Robert Johnson (Blackrock College), Richard Reaney (Royal School Armagh), Shane Gahan (Gonzaga College), Andrew Burke (Crescent CC); Ian Madigan (Blackrock College), Matthew Healy (Gonzaga College); Patrick McAllister (Royal School Armagh), Peter Kelleher (PBC Cork), Adam Macklin (Methodist College Belfast), James Sandford (Royal School Armagh), Stephen Mahony (St. Michael’s College), Alex Byrne (St. Michael’s College), Brian O’Hara (PBC Cork), Peter O’Mahony (PBC Cork) (capt).

Replacements: Thomas Sexton (Belvedere College), Nermin Lovic (Belvedere College), Felix Ross (The Kings Hospital), Patrick McGowan (Ballymena Academy), Sam Bell (Methodist College Belfast), Ronan O’Mahony (Castletroy CC), Chris Nolan (CBC Cork), Mark Atkinson (Grosvenor Grammar), Ricky Andrew (Ballymena Academy), Kyle O’Dwyer (CBC Cork), James Ryan (Rockwell College).

England U-18: Greig Tonks; Charlie Sharples, Jack Cobden, Luke Eves, Henry Trinder; Rob Miller, Oliver Frost; Ben Moon, Tom Collett, Alex Brown, Graham Kitchener, Calum Clark, Carl Fearns (capt), Jacob Rowan, Mike Macfarlane.

Replacements: Joseph Marler, James Clark, James Currie, Courtney Lawes, David Lewis, Mike Stanley, Tom Sargeant, Ben Williams, Sebastian Stegmann, Mark Davies, Dan Williams.

Score Summary:

Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Matthew Healy, Peter O’Mahony; Con: Ronan O’Mahony

England: Tries: Greig Tonks, Luke Eves; Cons: Rob Miller 2; Pens: Rob Miller 3