Last night's 7-82 win for the Ireland U20s over Scotland, in their round four Six Nations match, was a perfect storm for one of the best Irish squads we have seen at this age group.
In their first three games of the competition - wins over Wales, France, and Italy - we saw glimpses of their purple patches, and an ability to completely decimate teams with the generational size and athleticism of their pack, and the complimentary skills of the whole team, most notably their maverick at ten, Sam Prendergast.
Yesterday's game in Glasgow was 80 minutes of these purple patches, with barely any let up from Ireland, with the bounce of the ball seemingly going their way every time, and a bench of players hungry to get back into the starting XV for Sunday week's Grand Slam decider against England.
When matched against a weak Scottish side, the game resembled something like a World Cup group game between a mid-2007s All Blacks side and a Tier 2 nation.
Aside from the wild score difference of 75 points, the game produced a host of other mind-boggling statistics.
Firstly, in terms of possession, Ireland ended the game with 69% to Scotland's 31%, a level of difference more akin to something you would see in a training match.
Compared to Ireland's 59-5 hammering of Scotland in last year's U20s Six Nations, there was only a four percent difference in possession in that game.
Ireland U20s Were In Sensational Form Against Scotland
Here is Ireland's first score from Andrew Osborne 🔥
They've since added two close range tries through Fiachna Barrett and captain Gus McCarthy.
Prendergast is 3 from 3 making it 0-21 after 19 minutes 💪@PwCIreland #PwCIreland #FutureIsGreenpic.twitter.com/j8wRzrvOFJ— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) March 10, 2023
This Irish pack is huge and very, very athletic.
Diarmuid Mangan in full flight is a sight too behold.
Ruadhan Quinn has just gone over for his hat-trick and Ireland U20s now lead 61-7.
65 minutes gone.@PwCIreland #PwCIreland #FutureIsGreenpic.twitter.com/hoOlLLVfAE— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) March 10, 2023
READ HERE: Ireland U20s : Ruadhán Quinn Follows The Trend And Drops An F-Bomb After Scotland Rout
Even more startling is the time in possession stat. Ireland had the ball for 26m 03s, compared to Scotland's 11m 44s.
France U20s also dished out a couple of hammerings in this year's tournament - 54-12 against Scotland and 7-42 against England - the difference in possession time between both sides in those matches were six minutes and one minute.
Ireland's metres made number was naturally going to be high and they finished the game having made a tasty 926 metres.
Even more incredible was the number of metres made at half-time. When referee Takehito Namekawa had blown for the end of the first 40, Ireland had made 770 metres, according to the official U20s Six Nations coverage.
Ireland's defeats of Wales and Italy were also games full of line breaks and running rugby, but just 604m and 428m were made, respectively, over the course of the entire 80 minutes.
The tackle counts were also obscenely stark. Ireland were forced into making 78 tackles, with only eight missed, while the Scots made a gargantuan 242 tackles, and, with arguably their most depressing stat, they missed 42.
The result, the nature of Ireland's performance, and the make up of their team, adds greatly to the feel good vibe around Irish rugby.
For the U20s competition, however, it does not bode well for its spectacle, its integrity, and the future competitiveness of Scotland's young guns.
SEE ALSO: 5 Players From The 2008 Ireland U20s With Different Journeys In Life
