Scotland U20s fall to fifth consecutive defeat as Irish prove too strong
Scotland ended their Under20s Six Nations campaign with a fifth consecutive defeat as they lost 36-0 to Ireland at Musgrave Park in Cork.
They gave almost as good as they got in a first half which ended with Ireland just 7-0 up, but they were steadily worn down after the break.
Kenny Murray’s team defended superbly from the opening minutes, in which a combined effort by half the pack held up Ireland lock Joe Hopes short of the line. the nan drewm clean, a late call-up at stand-off after Isaac coates with drew through illness, got back to touch down and deny Finn Treacy a try.
The visitors won four turnovers in all in the first quarter, but they eventually fell behind midway through the half when Hugomc laugh lin scored in the left corner after jack brown had spilled a high ball. jack murphy converted.
When Robbie Deans came on at loose head for the injured call um Smythe, Scotland started to dominate in the scrum. They won a series of penalties at the set piece, but were unable to turn the pressure into points.
Deans’ dominance diminished when Patrice Bell came on for Ireland after the break, and after 50 minutes the new tighthead won a scrum penalty from which Murphy stretched the lead to 10-0. Captain Evan O’connell made it 15-0 on the hour with an unconverted try.
Scotland replacement Monroe Job was sent to the sin bin after 65 minutes for cynically stopping a quick tap and go, and then in the closing stages Ireland added three converted tries – two from Danny Sheahan either side of one by Sean Edogbo.