Edogbo seals thrilling win
IRELAND U20 23 ITALY U20 22
A BRILLIANT try by Seán Edogbo made it two wins from two for Ireland in the U20 Six Nations Championship with a tough 23-22 victory over a firedup Italy at Musgrave Park in Cork last night.
Ireland were trailing an absorbing game going into the last few minutes when the ball was worked out to the right wing to substitute Edogbo, younger brother of Munster senior squad member Edwin, and the Cobh man scorched down the touchline for a superb winning score.
Ireland had other tries from their captain Evan O’Connell and local boy Ben O’Connor, who scooped the man of the match award. However, they will know they got away with one here because Italy were inspired for much of the game and, although widely written off beforehand, the visitors could have sealed a famous victory if they had been able to keep their nerve at the end. Ireland coach Richie Murphy will take the lessons from this near miss and ensure improvement as they target another Under 20 Grand Slam. IRELAND: B O’Connor (UCC); F Treacy (Galwegians), W de Klerk (UCD), H Gavin (Galwegians), H McLaughlin (Lansdowne); J Murphy (Clontarf), O Coffey (Blackrock College); A Usanov (Clontarf); S Smyth (Old Wesley), J Boyd (QUB); A Spicer (UCD), E O’Connell (UL Bohemian, capt); J Hopes (QUB), B Ward (Ballynahinch), L Murphy (Shannon). Reps: D Sheahan (Cork Con) for Smyth 50 mins, P Bell (Sale Sharks) for Boyd 50 mins, B Corrigan (Old Wesley) for Spicer 50 mins, B Howard (Terenure College) for Usanov 62 mins, S Edogbo (UCC) for Murphy 62 mins, T Brophy (Naas) for Coffey 65 mins, S Naughton (Corinthians) for Murphy 68 mins.