Six Nations

As expected Ireland Under-20 had little difficulty in beating Scotland and so became the winners of the Under-20 Six Nations.

Second-placed England needed a 47-point winning margin in order to knock Ireland off top spot. They recorded a victory but it was a slim one as they edged out the French 47-31. That left Ireland  to celebrate a well-deserved title as, with four wins from five games, they become the first Irish winners of the Under-20 crown since the 2007 Grand Slam side.

Results of Round 5

England vs France, 47-31
Ireland vs Scotland, 44-15
Wales vs Italy, 30-22

Results of Previous Rounds

Round 1
England vs Wales, 30-17
Ireland vs Italy, 29-11
Scotland vs France, 8-8

Round 2
England vs Italy, 16-10
France vs Ireland, 20-15
Wales vs Scotland, 20-12

Round 3
Ireland vs England, 25-10
Wales vs France, 43-8
Scotland vs Italy, 18-16

Round 4
England vs Scotland, 27-6
France vs Italy, 25-6
Ireland vs Wales, 24-17

Match Details

Ireland vs Scotland at Dubarry Park, Athlone

Five tries to none tells the story.

Ireland scored first when James McKinney goaled a penalty but Alex Blair responded immediately to give Scotland a 6-3 lead. That was wiped out when a great team effort sent Nevin Spence over at the posts.

At half-time Ireland led 31-9.

Scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries: Nevin Spence 2, Andrew Conway 2, Tiernan O'Halloran
Cons: James McKinney 5
Pens: James McKinney 3

For Scotland:
Pens: Alex Blair 5

Teams:

Ireland: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch), 11 Simon Zebo, 10 James McKinney, 9 John Cooney, 8 Patrick Butler, 7 Dominic Ryan, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 Ben Marshall, 4 David O'Callaghan, 3 Stewart Maguire, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Jack O'Connell
Replacements: 16 Risteard Byrne, 17 Bryan Cagney, 18 Brian Hayes, 19 Robin O'Sullivan, 20 Michael Heaney, 21 Gareth Quinn McDonogh, 22 Brendan Macken

Scotland: 15 Tom Brown, 14 Oliver Grove, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Dougie Fife, 10 Alex Blair, 9 Alex Black, 8 Stuart McInally (captain), 7 David Denton, 6 Michael Maltman, 5 Robert Harley, 4 Matthew Reid, 3 Colin Phillips, 2 Alun Walker, 1 Nicky Little
Replacements: 16 Lindsey Gibson, 17 George Hunter, 18 Aaron Hall, 19 Callum Stidston-Nott, 20 Kris Hamilton, 21 Matthew Scott, 22 Duncan Weir

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Cyril Lafon (France), Paul-Henri Courbier (France)
Television match official: Daniel Gillet (France)

France vs England at Stade Préhembert, Saint Nazaire

this Sunday match produced a fine display by both sides as England hunted points in the hope of overtaking Ireland. All-out attack produced weakness on defence and the sides each scored five tries.

England led 23-19 at the break.

Scorers:

For France;
Tries: Alexis Bales 2, Lucas Dupont, Xavier Chiocci, Arthur Roulin
Cons: Jean-Marc Doussain 2, Gilles Bosch 2.

For England:
Tries: Jamie Gibson 2, Tom Casson, Marcus Watson,  Sam Smith
Cons: Tom Homer 5
Pens: Tom Homer 4.

Teams

France: 15 Julien Fritz, 14 Lucas Dupont, 13 Benjamin Petre, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Jérémy Sinzelle, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Bales, 8 Antoine Erbani, 7 Tanguy Molcard (captain), 6 Arthur Roulin, 5 Jean Sousa, 4 Jean Souvent, 3 Gwendal Lamache, 2 Mickaël Ivaldi, 1 Xavier Chiocci
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Geledan, 17 Eddy Ben Arous (Racing Métro 92), 18 Kevin Gimeno, 19 Josselin Grange, 20 Jérémy Gondrand, 21 Gilles Bosch, 22 Benoit Sicart

England: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Marcus Watson, 13 Andrew Forsyth, 12 Tom Casson, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Jamie Gibson, 7 Jacob Rowan (captain), 6 Will Welch, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Shaun Knight, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Arthur Ellis, 17 Lee Imiolek, 18 Danny Wright, 19 Jackson Wray, 20 Charlie Davies, 21 Mark Atkinson, 22 Tom Catterick

Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland))
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan, Eanna O'Dowd (Ireland))
Television match official: Tony Redmond (Ireland))
Assessor Joël Dumé (France)

Wales vs Italy at Cardiff Arms Park

Italy gave as good as they got and were in the game with Wales 16-15 ahead but tries by Dean Gunter and Dan Fish made the game safe for Wales. At half-time Wales led 13-6.

Scorers;

For Wales:
Tries: Scott Williams, Dean Gunter, Dan Fish
Con: Matthew Jarvis, Dean Gunter 2
Pens: Matthew Jarvis 3

For Italy:
Try: Ornel Gega
Con: Albert Chillon;
Pens: Albert Chillon 5

Teams:

Wales: 15 Dan Fish, 14 James Loxton, 13 Ben John, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Kristian Phillips, 10 Matthew Jarvis, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Morgan Allen, 7 Josh Navidi (captain), 6 Edward Siggery (Llandovery), 5 McCauley Cook, 4 James Thomas, 3 Joe Rees, 2 Rhys Williams, 1 Trystan Davies
Replacements: 16 Ieuan Davies, 17 Dan Watchurst, 18 Ben Thomas, 19 Rhys Jenkins, 20 Rhys Downes, 21 Steve Shingler, 22 Dean Gunter

Italy: 15 Ruggero Trevisan, 14 Alberto Zorzi, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Sebastian Rodwell, 11 Guglielmo Palazzani, 10 Tommaso Iannone, 9 Alberto Chillon, 8 Enrico Targa, 7 Stefano Scanferla, 6 Nicola Belardo, 5 Filippo Cazzola, 4 Lorenzo Santelli, 3 Pericardia Leso, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Carlo Fazzari
Replacements: 16 Nicola Corbanese, 17 Ornel Gega, 18 Marco Barbini, 19 Filippo Ferrarini, 20 Vittorio Callori Di Vignale (Primavera Rugby), 21 Michele Mortali, 22 Giovanni Alberghini

Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Andrew Small (England), Paul Dix (England)
Television match official: David Matthews (England)