It was a tough day for the Ireland U20s as they were beaten by their old foes England in the World Rugby U20 Championship semifinals in Cape Town.
These two sides played out an all-time classic in the U20s Six Nations in March when they drew 32-32 at The Rec and it looked like Ireland may go one better after just a minute on the clock when Oliver Coffey scored the first try of the match.
The Leinster scrum-half was on hand to score after collecting a ludicrous offload from the ever impressive Hugh Gavin who broke through the English line after a lineout.
Ireland come storming out of the gates as Oliver Coffey dives over! 🔥#WorldRugbyU20s | #ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/YWaNTNxbQZ
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 14, 2024
It wasn't to be a walkover for Ireland however as England came fighting off the back of their dominant scrum.
Their starting props Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Afolabi Fasogbon were men mountains compared to the Irish front row and their size showed as England were able to march down the field after winning penalty after penalty in the scrum.
Ireland did very well to hold England out for as long as they did but English hooker Craig Wright was able to score a try after a sustained period of pressure from England with 26 minutes on the clock.
Jack Murphy was able to slot over a penalty to give Ireland the lead again but England replied almost immediately with a try from Ollie Allan.
Ollie Allan splits the defence to put England in front! 🤩#WorldRugbyU20s | #ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/9y6sIKh09C
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 14, 2024
A few crazy minutes ensued as both sides refused to give up scoring. Ireland's Bryn Ward caught England lacking around the ruck and carried over to give Ireland the lead. Then both sides exchanged penalties straight from kick-off to keep Ireland ahead by 3 points before centre Sean Kerr scored a try with the last touch of the half to give England a 22-20 lead heading into the break.
England really asserted their dominance in the second half. They used their scrum to pin Ireland deep into their own half and you could feel the hope drain away with each scrum penalty.
Sean Kerr smartly managed things and kept the scoreboard ticking over with penalties as Ireland really struggled to get anything going in the second half as England firmly had their tails up.
A final Kerr penalty as the clock ticked past 80 was enough to secure England the 11-point victory but the Irish team played their hearts out and were just second-best on the day to a powerful England team.
Brian Gleeson "Disappointed" After Ireland U20s Semifinal Defeat
Ireland U20s captain for the game Brian Gleeson spoke after the match about how proud he is in the team and everything they gave.
Look, we're very disappointed. We thought we had a good shot coming out. I'm extremely proud of my team, the work we put ion all year, it's really tough
It's fairly obvious they got on top of us in the set-piece but that's nothing against our lads, our lads gave it everything when they went there. Our lads gave it our best, especially in the scrums they gave it everything we could. They got on top of us but look there's nothing we can do we can only just review it and try get better.
It's obviously very disappointing whenever Ireland lose a knockout match but the side this year as well as the sides of the recent past have shown that the future of Irish rugby is in safe hands.
They shown that Ireland can compete on a world level at age-grade and in a few years time we can hopefully see some of these players line out for the senior team.
