Danny Sheahan and Sean Edogbo grab tries as Ireland U20s rout Scotland on Leeside
Ireland's Danny Sheahan scores his team's third try against Scotland at Virgin Media Park. Picture: INPHO/Ben Brady
IRELAND came close to a third consecutive U20 Six Nations with a bonus-point victory over Scotland at a sold-out Virgin Media Park but England's comeback win over France ended their title hopes.
Two tries from Cork’s own Danny Sheahan helped the hosts get the result on a night that Cobh's Sean Edogbo also got his name on the scoresheet and Ben O'Connor wore the number 15 jersey.
Scotland didn’t have anything to play for and they left with nothing after a positive start that the visitors to Cork dominate possession inside the opening five minutes.
Evan O’Connell ended this spell by snatching a line-out thrown in by Henry Walker at the corner. This wasn’t the start of a push for the opening try by Ireland, they actually struggled for fluency when trying to create something inside the opposition’s 22.
Ireland were forced to think and to figure out a way of playing as Scotland nullified wingers Finn Tracey and Hugo McLaughlin.
What it came down to was little victories, like when Findley Thomson was penalised for a tackle off the feet and a penalty was used to get a line-out inside Scotland’s half. Walker found O’Connell with this set piece and they worked together to play Tracey into space. The winger went for the spectacular and his attempt at chipping the ball over the Scotland line ended in a fairly routine catch by Andrew McLean.
The moment that actually turned the game in Ireland’s favour was Jack Brown knocking the ball into the hands of Edogbo. This happened so quickly, Scotland were caught in transition and this allowed Ireland to take advantage of space left wing. McLaughlin finished this move at the corner and Jack Murphy converted to give Ireland a 7-0 lead in the 22nd minute.
Scotland were resolute and they held firm during the time left to play in the first half. They also managed to get onto Ireland’s goalline, and a scrum penalty stopped this push for a potentially equalising score.
The game restarted with an Ireland penalty on Scotland’s 10-metre line and Jack Murphy opted to go for the three points. The fly-half paid no attention to the distance and made it 10-0 in the 50th minute.
A try should have followed, a line-out maul pushed onto the goal-line and Ireland used their line speed to get onto the opposite wing where there was space. The referee’s whistle and a Scotland penalty brought an end to this, much to the annoyance of the crowd.
Ireland had to be patient, and this is what created the space for O’Connell to carry the ball over at the corner and make it 15-0. There was no conversion to complement this as Jack Murphy narrowly missed the target at the Dolphin End.
Sheahan marked his introduction by acting as scorer and creator from a line-out. He dived in at the corner and the resulting conversion made it 22-0 to Ireland.
Edogbo rushed over from a quick penalty to add another five points to that tally, and Murphy split the posts to add two more onto that haul.
Sheahan made sure of the bonus point and the resulting conversion was good, and Ireland finished their 2024 U20 Six Nations campaign with another win.
Danny Sheahan (2), Hugo McLaughlin, Evan O'Connell, Sean Edogbo: tries; Jack Murphy: 1 pen, 4 cons.
B O’Connor; F Treacy, W de Klerk, H Gavin, H McLaughlin; J Murphy, O Coffey; A Usanov, H Walker, J Boyd; E O’Connell, J Hopes; S Edogbo, B Ward, L Murphy.
James McKillop for L Murphy (44); Patreece Bell for Boyd (48), Davy Colbert for Gavin (57), Billy Corrigan for Ward (61), Danny Sheahan for Walker (62), Ben Howard for Usanov (65), Sean Naughton for De Klerk (72), Tadhg Brophy for Coffey (75).
J Brown; Finlay Doyle, J Ventisei, F Thomson, G Gwynn; A McLean, H Patterson; C Smyth, J Blyth-Lafferty, C Norrie; E McVie, R Hart, J Morris, F Douglas, T Currie.
R Deans for Blyth-Lafferty (25); Finn Douglas for Brown (60), Eric Davey for Patterson (66), Kerr Yule for Thomson (60), Archie Clarke for McVie (60), Ryan Whitefield for Norrie (66), Marcus Brogan for Blyth-Lafferty (66).
Takehito Namekawa (JRFU).
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