England U20s were handed a thumping by their Irish counterparts in their opening game of the U20 Rugby World Cup on Tuesday night.
Despite trailing 10-0 just ten minutes into the game, Ireland showed their class to battle back and claim a 42-26 victory over their Six Nations rivals as they ran in six tries.
The result gave Ireland a bonus point and left England U20s with nothing as the 16-point deficit meant they failed to even secure a losing bonus point.
One of the key factors in letting Ireland back into the game was England's poor discipline throughout the match, with the referee showing two yellow cards and one red card to the team in white.
It meant England U20s spent 34 minutes of the game a man down against this year's Grand Slam champions, with the red card a particularly shameful moment in the game.
Having just arrived on the pitch as a replacement at hooker, Alfie Barbeary flipped Irish flanker John Hodnett onto his head at the side of a ruck with 14 minutes still to play in the match.
The referee checked with his TMO and was left in doubt that the offence should be punished with a red card and Ireland quickly pulled away from their opponents.
RED CARD:
66mins:
England substitute hooker Alfie Barbeary is dismissed for lifting up and dropping Ireland's John Hodnett.
England U20s 26-28 Ireland U20s#WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/NU3nkvBglB— eir Sport (@eirSport) June 4, 2019
Though Ireland ultimately won the game by 16 points, England U20s were still very much in it with just two points separating the sides before Barbeary lost his cool.
Ireland will now face off against Australia on Saturday in a game which will likely decide who will win Pool B while England must beat Italy to avoid dropping down into the relegation section of the knockout stages.
Barbeary now faces the possibility of his World Cup being over before it ever really began if World Rugby decide to hand him a lengthy ban.
