Ireland U20s were dealt more Six Nations disappointment after a surprise loss to Wales on a night where Tom Wood made his debut from the bench.
Ireland fell 7-0 behind early after Wales were awarded a penalty try from a collapsed maul, with Billy Corrigan being sent to the bin.
Two try-scoring opportunities came Ireland's way, Charlie Molony getting over the try-line but losing control of the ball in challenging conditions.
Eanna McCarthy was next to cross over with a pick-and-go but he was held-up, and Wales soon struck against the run of play to extend their advantage.
Neil Doak's side responded with a maul try of their own, Henry Walker planting the ball after good work from the lineout.
Wales 14-5 Ireland
Ireland got their first try now using the maul to their advantage with hooker Henry Walker crossing over!@PwCIreland #FutureIsGreenpic.twitter.com/OeRjUvXRck
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) February 21, 2025
Handling errors continued to blight Ireland but Eoghan Smyth showed good initiative to stretch and plant the ball-in-goal to cut the gap and trail 14-12 into the break.
Harri Wilde kicked three more points for Wales and Ireland continued to probe but were held up again, before more handling issues came to the fore. A second Wales penalty did settled the score as Ireland were denied a losing bonus-point.
Tom Wood makes Ireland U20s debut
One of the positives from the display was the fact that Tom Wood - son of Ireland legend Keith Wood - had a fine debut performance.
The half-back showed some creativity and forced a good opportunity for Ireland from a lineout but they were unable to capitalise after coming on as a replacement.
Former Ireland star Fiona Hayes watched the game in the Virgin Media studio where she gave a positive assessment of what she saw from the debutant.
They are a young bunch and a lot of them will be around next year,' Hayes said.
"Young Tom Wood came on and I thought he changed it; you saw a variety of kicking, there was a little chip over the top and some lovely pump passes.
"You can see guys are trying things but the number one thing is if you can't get over that gain-line - and they couldn't."
The loss is Ireland's second in three U20s Six Nations matches, having gone 16 games unbeaten in the event, and leaves them fifth in the standings at the time of writing.
