Munster A/Development Defeat Ireland U20

With tries from Lee Nicholas, Sean McCarthy and Greg O’Shea together with nine points from the boot of Tomás Quinlan, Munster A/Development achieved a hard fought and deserved win over Ireland U20s at Temple Hill, Cork this afternoon.

A slow start from Munster saw them unable to make proper use of the possession they enjoyed with good defence from Ireland allowing little penetration and keeping Munster clear of the Irish 22 for the opening 20 minutes.

Nor did Munster aid their cause by failing to secure their own line out ball on a couple of occasions and coughing up penalties at scrum time.

One such penalty allowed Ireland to draw fist blood. Using the line out maul to build a platform from which to attack, they built phases from right to left before out half Ross Byrne touched down and converted the game’s opening try on 13 minutes.

A sloppy defensive line out from Munster handed Ireland a 5 metre scrum just minutes later, only for the Irish to knock on and spare the host’s blushes.

However Munster would soon get a foothold in the game. A sublime kick from the impressive Tomás Quinlan brought Munster deep into the Irish 22 for the first time in the game on 23 minutes and from there the men in red applied serious pressure – kicking a penalty to touch after which Lee Nicholas crossed from the line out maul. Quinlan’s place kicking was as impressive as his kicking from hand and he added the extras with a touchline conversion.

The momentum had now swung the way of the hosts with Munster winning the battle on the ground and in terms of penalties.

On 33 minutes Munster opted to kick to touch again. A decision that paid dividends as Munster built phases from a line out maul and captain Sean McCarthy led by example in touching down for Munster’s second try which Quinlan also converted.

However, it was Ireland that would have the final say of the half. Finding themselves camped well inside the Munster 22 and following a sustained period of pressure – picking and going – they eventually drew in the Munster defence, creating an overlap on the right wing and ensuring that they would head into the interval on level terms with their opponents. With the crossbar aiding the successful conversion it was 14-14 at half time.

Munster drew first blood after the restart when a scrum penalty gave Quinlan the chance to kick for three, which he duly did, handing the lead back to the province.

Despite Munster enjoying the majority of possession and the game being played predominantly in Irish territory, it was Ireland who were next to cross the whitewash.

What had been until then, a relatively solid Munster defence, allowed a gaping hole to appear in midfield through which replacement Jacob Stockdale ran in Ireland’s third try.

Credit to the Munstermen, Ireland may have taken the lead, but the momentum was soon to swing back the way of the hosts. Good work in the scrum saw Munster win turnover ball 5 metres from the Irish line. Losing the advantage in the subsequent scrum they immediately won it straight back and on the second attempt there would be no mistake.

Showing composure and patience they built phases from the scrum before spreading it left from the midfield and this time it was winger Greg O’Shea who touched down on 67 minutes. The flawless placekicking of Quinlan continued as he landed another touchline conversion.

Munster maintained their fair share of possession, however a rising error count at set piece and in attack prevented them from putting any distance between them and their visitors.

Worrying times then as the Irish spent the final minutes of the game deep in Munster territory vying to find one last try that would at the very least draw them level with their hosts.

Like their senior counterparts had done against Leinster on St Stephens Day, the Munster defence held up manfully in the dying minutes of the game – defending an attacking scrum, two line out mauls and countless attacking phases before eventually winning the penalty that would allow them to clear their lines and win the game.

Munster A/Development winning out 24-19 over Ireland U20.

Munster A/Development: Steve McMahon (Kiernan 49); Greg O’Shea, Ned Hodson (O’Neill 58), Gearoid Lyons, Alex Wootton; Tomas Quinlan, Jack Cullen (Glynn 75); Liam O’Connor (Quinlan 49), Niall Scannell (Abbott 65), Mike O’Donnell (Poillet 49 – Glynn 75); Sean McCarthy-capt. (Walsh 72), Francis Bradshaw Ryan; Lee Nicholas (Dwyer 72), Ben Kilkenny, Mike Murphy (Browne 57).

Replacements: Max Abbott, Brendan Quinlan, Philip Poillet, Conor Glynn, Jamie Glynn, Paul Kiernan, JJ O’Neill, Yasin Browne, Sean Walsh, Sonny Dwyer.

Ireland U20: Billy Dardis; Stephen Fitzgerald, Garry Ringrose, Sam Arnold, Jack Owens; Ross Byrne, Nick McCarthy-capt.; Jeremy Loughman, Sean McNulty, Oisin Heffernan; David O'Connor, Alex Thompson, Josh Murphy, Rory Moloney, Lorcan Dow.

Replacements: Zac McCall, Andrew Porter, Conan O'Donnell, Jack Dwan, Steve McVeigh, Conor Young, Josh Bingham, Jacob Stockdale.