Ireland U20s Win In Newcastle

The Ireland Under-20s blitzed England with 20 unanswered second half points to claim a famous 26-20 win at Newcastle’s Kingson Park tonight.

Ireland's first away victory over England at this level since 2010 was set up by a run of second half tries from captain James Ryan, Matthew Byrne and Andrew Porter, and five points from Brett Connon's boot.

Nigel Carolan's side turned this U20 RBS 6 Nations tie on its head having trailed 20-6, with England's first half tries coming from Sam Smith and George Perkins.

The hosts had been good value for their lead on the all-weather surface, but Ireland, who had been guilty of sloppy second half displays against Wales and France, gradually wore them down with skipper Ryan a very deserving man-of-the-match.

Ireland U20 Scorers: Tries – Sam Smith, George Perkins; Cons – Mathew Protheroe 2; Pen – Mathew Protheroe; Drop: Mathew Protheroe

Ireland U20s: Jack Power (UCD/Leinster); Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster), Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster), Jimmy O'Brien (UCD/Leinster), Conor O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster); Johnny McPhillips (Queen's University/Ulster), Stephen Kerins (Sligo/Connacht); Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Adam McBurney (Ballymena/Ulster), Conan O'Donnell (Sligo/Connacht), Peter Claffey (Galwegians/Connacht), James Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster) (capt), Cillian Gallagher (Sligo/Connacht), Will Connors (UCD/Leinster), Greg Jones (UCD/Leinster).

Replacements: Shane Fenton (Young Munster/Munster), James Bollard (Dublin University/Leinster), Ben Betts (Young Munster/Munster), Sean O'Connor (Cashel/Munster), Kelvin Brown (Shannon/Munster), John Poland (Cork Constitution/Munster), Brett Connon (Newcastle Falcons/Exiles), Matthew Byrne (Terenure College/Leinster).