Ireland U20s take a big step towards defending their Six Nations with victory over France – Irish Times

France U20 31 Ireland U20 37

Ireland put in a great performance to defeat world champions France 37-31 in Aix-en-Provence.

The team, which has won back-to-back Grand Slam tournaments, has taken a big step towards the Six Nations title. The way he continued to play with the ball in his hands was particularly impressive, with the forwards and backs working together to disrupt the cacophony around them.

The Irish were nervy, abandoning a scrum from the kick-off, with Wilhelm de Kerk giving a typical tackle and Bryn Ward having to disrupt a ruck for a turnover.

A perfect connection from Danny Sheehan to Evan O’Connell at the lineout led to a superb maul, allowing Sheehan to score a try and Murphy converting in the sixth minute.

The French attacked on the outside, with Hoani Bosmolin testing Ben O’Connor, captain Castro-Ferreira firing low to the line and Tom Laffey converting the ball.

Grégoire Alfeuille’s glare caused confusion, but Hugo McLaughlin kept his cool and narrowly defeated the two French players.

Ireland managed to bend without breaking, despite Grégoire Alfira’s mesmerizing legs and Patrick Tuifa’s brilliant line.

Gavin fought back from 22 goals down to create what looked like a decisive try until Ben O’Connor was caught by Boss Morin and Hugo McLaughlin shouted for a walk-in pass.

However, Gavin and De Klerk contributed to the turnover. Brian Gleeson came strong out of the scrum and stomped on his blue shirt.

The Irish kept the message, driving in runners, drawing penalties, repeating the process with Gleeson diving. Murphy scored in the 25th minute to make it 14-7.

The Irishman’s driving maul was a methodical weapon against Leo Carbonneau’s wayward footwork and his extraordinary strength on the ball.

Twice the French maul looked like he was going to crush his opponents inside the 22. A scrum penalty reset them again, Castro-Ferreira split the line for a try, and Raffey made it 14-all in the 37th minute.

They gained more ground at the lineout and Ireland’s innovation in midfield was aided by smart persistence, with Murphy converting a penalty to lead 17-14 at the half-time whistle.

Pushed by a wave of French runners, flanker Tuifa beat Bryn Ward for a penalty and Raffy scored in the 47th minute.

For the first time, Ireland was on the back foot. They used mauls, spun and forced out runners, inviting Alfeuor to get a yellow card.

Once again, the mall was stunning. The big men came with authority, Gavin’s line splitting the French in half and Murphy’s conversion made it 24-21 in the 52nd minute.

The Irish looked to be trying to retain possession more, with McLaughlin and Ethan Graham moving in from the back to add pace.

A controversial decision by referee Morne Ferreira ruled out Ireland’s penalty when Finn Treacy challenged Boss Morin in the air, ultimately leading to Laffey’s penalty in the 65th minute.

But then Ireland capitalized on a French mistake, with Murphy hacking the loose ball and Treacy foot-passing the ball to himself for a try, with Murphy scoring in the 68th minute to make it 31-24.

I didn’t have time to think. The French could not afford to sit back and the momentum became unstoppable in the 74th minute when Mael Perrin ramrodted home Raffy’s conversion.

The Irishman’s resilience to continue fighting and recovering from an apparent knockout blow was never more evident than in the final moments of the bout.

They rallied heroically, applying intelligent and energetic pressure to force Murphy into an early penalty.

The French finally bore the weight of expectations. Gleeson picked the pocket and Murphy was there to deal with the hostility in the best way possible by taking another penalty at the final whistle.

Scorers for France: M. Castro-Ferreira 2 tries. P Tuifa, M Perrin try. T Raffy Pen, 4 Cons.

Scorers for Ireland: D Sheehan, B Gleeson, H Gavin and F Tracey each try. J. Murphy 2 pens, 4 cons.

France: M. Ferte; G. Alfeuille, R. Taccola, A. Desperes, H. Bosmolin. T. Laffey, L. Carbonneau. L Julien, B Massa, Z Aouad. C Gambini, C Mezu. N Zinzen, P Tuifa, M Castro Ferreira (Capt.).

Replacement: Julian’s L Ametra ht; Joe Kele Carraba, Zinzen 50 minutes. Antonin Corso (Gambini), Robin Cooley (Massa), Thomas Duchesne (Aouard) and Maxence Biazotto (Affille) all played for 61 minutes. Vosmorin N Nene 65 minutes.

Ireland: B. O’Connor. F Tracey, W de Klerk, H Gavin, H McLaughlin. J. Murphy, O. Coffey. A Usanov, D Sheehan, Sparrow. Spicer, E. O’Connell (Capt.). J. Hopes, B. Ward, B. Gleeson.

Replacement: E. Graham for O’Connor in 22 minutes. J Boyd 45 minutes for Sparrow. L. Murphy, 58 minutes for Spicer. Sheehan’s H Walker 62 minutes. B. Howard for Ussanov in the 68th minute. Ward B Corrigan 75 minutes.

Referee: M. Ferreira, South Africa.