Ireland U19’s v Australia Schools Ravenhill Saturday 14th December 2013.
It was a game of two halves from an Ireland U19’s perspective when they played the touring Australia Schools’ team at Ravenhill on Saturday 14th December. The Australia team won the game, played in very difficult overhead conditions, by 14-8. The visitors won the toss and opted to play with the wind behind them in the first half.The early exchanges were very physical as both sets of forwards looked to assert authority over the other. Australia gained the early advantage when awarded a penalty for an Irish infringement at the breakdown. Fly half, Andrew Deegan, kicked the goal and Australia held the early 3-0 lead. The Ireland team responded positively and, shortly after going behind, Ross Byrne converted a difficult penalty kick to see the score board draw level at 3-3. For the remainder of the first half, honours were evenly shared in terms of field position. Both teams had chances to score but accuracy in the tough conditions was costing both teams with promising attacks thwarted by a number of dropped passes. The respective back rows, with Jack McCalman and Lolo Faka’osilea putting in a good performance for the Australians, matched by the performances of Josh Murphy, Rory Maloney and Lorcan Dow for the Irish, won crucial turnover ball at times. However, both defences were well organised and negated a number of scoring opportunities for both teams. The Australian scrum began to be punished by the French referee with a series of infringements and Ireland, in turn, placed Australia under serious pressure. The Ireland team gained good field position following an Australian scrum offence and, in the 30th minute, an Irish try was scored in the corner after control and patience was demonstrated by the Ireland U19 pack. Lorcan Dow got the touch down but the difficult conversion kick was unsuccessful. However, the Ireland U19 team, playing against the elements, had an 8-3 lead. In the final seconds of the first half, Australia had a great opportunity to add points after some impressive patterns of play. Unfortunately, an Australian knock on, just short of the Ireland line, halted the opportunity to even up the game at the break ensuring the Ireland U19 team took their 8-3 lead into the break.
The second half could not have started better for the Australian team with an Irish mistake from the kick off. The Australian intensity lifted and they began to play controlled, multiphase rugby to place the Irish defence under pressure. Following a short, but effective, period of attacking play, emerging from the Irish mistake, the Australian scrum half, James Tuttle, spotted an opening down the short side of a ruck. He took his chance and touched down for Australia’s first try after gliding through a hesitant Irish defence. The conversion was unsuccessful but Australia’s confidence was building as the scores were now locked up at 8-8. Both teams were handling the tough conditions well with Ireland kicking accurately through their half backs, James Cullen and Ross Byrne, and Australia returning the ball with great effectiveness. The penalty count against the Ireland team, who had displayed great discipline in the first half, was starting to even up as Ireland tried everything at the breakdown to unsettle the Australian momentum. Unfortunately, they were now getting on the wrong side of the French referee on quite a few occasions. An Irish yellow card added to their frustration as the Australian runners hammered away at the Irish defence. The Australian No 10, Andrew Deegan, added a further penalty goal, in the fiftieth minute, which ensured Australia regained an 11-8 lead. From the restart, Ireland raised their performance levels and played their best rugby of the second half. However, the Australian defence was up for the fight and, eventually, an Irish error allowed the visitors to gain possession and mount a series of attacks. Ball control was crucial running into the wind and the Australian players demonstrated great discipline for the remainder of the second half. Towards the end of the game both teams made frequent substitutions with the difficult conditions taking its toll on players who had given their all. The Australian bench lifted the team as each player who came on made a real impression to ensure a positive final outcome. The Irish gave away another penalty in, the fifty-ninth minute, and the posts were well within the kicking range of Andrew Deegan. He successfully converted the penalty and Australia increased their lead to 14-8. For the remainder of the match, Australia dominated possession and held on for a well-deserved 14-8 victory.
Ireland U19 team
15 Billy Dardis UCD RFC
14 Ciaran Gaffney Galwegian’s RFC
13 Gary Primrose Blackrock College
12 Conor McKee Methodist College
11 Jack Owens Campbell College
10 Ross Byrne UCD RFC
9 Jack Cullen Bruff RFC
1 Jeremy Loughman Blackrock College
2 Sean McNulty UCD RFC
3 Oisin Heffernan Lansdowne RFC
4 David O’Connor Blackrock College
5 Alex Thompson Methodist College
6 Josh Murphy UCD RFC
7 Rory Moloney Buccaneer’s RFC
8 Lorcan Dow Queen’s University RFC
16 Stephen Weir Methodist College
17 Michael Lagan Methodist College
18 Mike O’Donnell Crescent College
19 Frank Bradshaw Ryan Shannon RFC
20 James Gallagher Ballymena RFC
21 Conor Young Instonian’s RFC
22 Josh Bingham Methodist College
23 Piers O’Conor Eastbourne College
Ireland U19 Management team
Coach Colin McEntee IRFU
Asst Coach Nigel Carolan Connacht
Scrum Coach Conor Twomey Munster
Technical Analyst Vinny Hammond IRFU
Doctor Dr Tim O’Flanagan Leinster
Physiotherapist Barry Smith Leinster
S&C Coach Declan Browne Leinster
Kit Manager Pat Downey Leinster
Logistics Phil Keeley Leinster
Squad Co-Ordinator Jessica Quigley IRFU
Manager Barney McGonigle Ulster
