Ireland bag bonus-point win but England take title
IRELAND 36 SCOTLAND 0
IRELAND finished their U20s Six Nations campaign with a flourish last night, but it wasn’t enough to secure the title. The task for this group was clear before kick-off: beat a poor Scotland side – preferably with a bonus point – and then sit back and hope France did them a favour by toppling England later in the evening. But England delivered a storming bonus-point victory in Pau, pipping Ireland to the trophy by a single point in the final standings. Richie Murphy’s side had delivered a hard-fought 36-0 win against a resilient Scotland side in Cork earlier in the evening. The visitors had endured a torrid campaign before they arrived on Leeside. Winless after four rounds, they reached rock bottom by shipping 47 points away to the Italians in the previous round. The Scots weren’t given much hope of derailing this late Irish title charge but the home side encountered a staunch defensive effort in the opening quarter. Ireland monopolised possession and territory but they couldn’t break down a stubborn Scotland side. The first try of the night arrived in the 20th minute when Hugo McLaughlin finished off a flowing effort in the left corner, impressive flanker Bryn Ward providing the killer offload. That’s as good as it got for Ireland in the first half, however. The 7-0 lead at the break was pretty slender. Ireland continued to attack in waves and the Scots continued to make their tackles. A Jack Murphy penalty and a try from the outstanding Evan O’Connell looked to have finally killed off the stubborn Scottish resistance. When the Irish pack mauled replacement hooker Danny Sheahan over the line, the bonus point was in sight and it duly arrived when powerful flanker Sean Edogbo crashed over to secured the maximum haul. There was still time for Sheahan to claim a second at the death as Ireland finished in style.
Then it was over to France to take in the second half, the English edging a helter skelter encounter to secure the title and dash Irish dreams of a hattrick of Six Nations championships in the process.