England U20s slip to defeat against Ireland
By Nabil Hassan
21/2/20
England Under-20s were defeated 39-21 by reigning U20 Six Nations champions Ireland at Northampton's Franklin's Gardens.
It was a first loss for England having defeated France and Scotland in the opening two rounds, while Ireland remain unbeaten.
Ireland started brightly and sent over an early penalty through Jack Crowley but England responded soon after with George Hammond crashing through for a try which George Barton converted.
The visitors had a try ruled out by the TMO for an earlier knock on, but they weren't to be denied with Alex Soroka bundling over in the corner after a period of sustained pressure.
Ireland had a second with Hayden Hyde going over after a fine offload moments earlier kept the ball in play and Crowley converted for 15-7.
A third followed through Ahern who crashed over as Ireland showed great patience to work their way through England's defence and Ireland had a bonus point on the stroke of half time, with Ethan McIlroy crossing in the corner after a flowing team move.
Hugh Tizzard went over soon after the break but Max O’Reilly had a fifth Ireland try after searing down the left wing to cross. Theo Dan bundled over off the back of a driving maul, but Thomas Ahern's try helped seal victory.
Head coach Alan Dickens said: "The performance wasn’t up to the standard of the previous two games. We were slow to start and even though we scored the first try we always seemed to be chasing the game once they took the lead.
"We didn’t slow their ball down, they played on the front foot and that put us under pressure defensively and we conceded some soft tries
"One of the big learnings will be to manage the game and to know when to play expansive rugby and when to control it. That will come with maturity and game understanding the more competitive fixtures we play.
"We have two games left in the tournament, we want to play well in those fixtures, continue to develop and hopefully finish with two victories. There were positives to take from tonight and we’ll focus on them and take it into the Wales game."
England Under-20s: 15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), 14. Gabriel Hamer-Webb (Bath Rugby), 13. Connor Doherty (Sale Sharks), 12. Charlie Watson (Saracens), 11. Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), 10. George Barton (Gloucester Rugby), 9. Sam Maunder (Exeter Chiefs, capt), 1. Sam Crean (Saracens), 2. Theo Dan (Saracens), 3. Luke Green (London Irish), 4. Hugh Tizard (Harlequins), 5. George Hammond (Harlequins), 6. Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs), 7. Josh Gray (Gloucester Rugby), 8. Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs)
Replacements: 16. Ben Atkins (London Irish), 17. Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), 18. Harvey Beaton (Saracens), 19. Chunya Munga (London Irish), 20. Rob Farrar (Newcastle Falcons), 21. Blake Boyland (Bristol Bears), 22. Will Haydon-Wood (Newcastle Falcons), 23. Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby)
Tries: Hammond, Tizzad, Dan; Cons: Barton (3)
Ireland XV: 15. Oran McNulty, 14. Ethan McIlroy, 13. Dan Kelly, 12. Hayden Hyde, 11. Andrew Smith, 10. Jack Crowley, 9. Lewis Finlay, 1. Marcus Hanan, 2. John McKee, 3. Thomas Clarkson, 4. Thomas Ahern, 5. Brian Deeny, 6. Alex Soroka, 7. Sean O’Brien, 8. David McCann (C)
Replacements: 16. Tom Stewart, 17. Harry Noonan, 18. Charlie Ward, 19. Joe McCarthy, 20. Cian Prendergast, 21. Ben Murphy, 22. Tim Corkery, 23. Max O’Reilly.
Tries: Soroka, Hyde, Ahern 2, McIlroy, O’Reilly Cons: Crowley (2), Corkery Pens: Crowley
Referee: B Blain (Scotland)