England A 28 Ireland A 12
On a day when the result was immaterial, a stilted display from Ireland A capped off a sluggish weekend for Irish rugby. After the under-20s lost on Friday night and the senior team escaped with a win on Saturday, Sunday bought another inaccurate display from the junior ranks, Ireland A outmuscled by an English side which could have won by a greater margin.
Individuals stepping up was always going to be the today’s barometer of success. Sean Jansen was a rare source of go-forward in the first half. Alex Kendellen and Hugh Gavin had some strong defensive moments. Shayne Bolton had the odd strong carry but was not supplied with enough ball to do sufficient damage.
That Ireland suffered multiple backline injuries after picking a 6-2 split did not help things, but even with more cover, they would have struggled against this English defence.
The power imbalance didn’t set in immediately, Ireland holding on to plenty possession. Twice they were held up over the line in the opening four minutes, England’s rearguard impressive in its tenacity.
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The hosts then forced their way up the pitch to open the scoring. Their ruck speed and power in contact had the Irish defence back-pedalling. The march into the 22 was both simple and intricate, powerful fringe carries giving way to subtle back play with outhalf Charlie Atkinson heavily involved. Ollie Hassell-Collins had a simple finish once the ball went wide.
To their credit, Ireland did respond. Jude Postlethwaite dropped a delicate short pass to Frawley who quickly fired to Deegan. His arcing, long pass found Bolton in stride. Frawley missed the wide conversion in the wind.
Then came the injury chaos. Hassell-Collins’ cleverly disguised line saw him break with the line apparently at his mercy. Shane Daly showed impressive gas to cover and haul him down, but the effort cost him his hamstring. On came Harry Byrne as Frawley shifted to fullback.
The adopted Bristolian lasted just five minutes. He was involved in a lovely backline move but took a big shot for his troubles. As he was receiving treatment for a head injury, Jack van Portvliet sniped passed an unmanned ruck and burned past Frawley for the score. Ireland might complain that play passed dangerously close to a man down with a head knock, but the score stood.
The curse of the 6-2 bench had struck with two backs gone off injured inside 25 minutes. Scrumhalf Fintan Gunne came on to the wing, O’Brien moved to fullback and Frawley was back at 10. When Frawley later departed for a HIA, Doak was forced into outhalf with Gunne at nine, Max Deegan on the wing.
Alex Kendellen won a breakdown turnover while Hugh Gavin and Postlethwaite combined for a choke tackle turnover to keep England from scoring again from the break. Ireland’s attack, though, struggled. Collisions were regularly lost while they were guilty of overplaying without fixing defenders.
It was not to be Gavin’s last defensive intervention, a good jackal earning a relieving penalty in the second half. That came amid the Irish forward pack’s slow implosion. Stephen Smyth had multiple crooked throws but he wasn’t helped by inconsistent, not to mention unsympathetic, refereeing given the wind. Ireland were also guilty of poor lifting and miscommunicated lineout calls. The scrum was also regularly dismantled, although Jack Aungier and Oli Jager both won reliving penalties close to their own line.
When Ireland finally held on to the ball in the second half, a spill allowed George Hendy to break. His score was chalked off for a knock on in the tackle, but Fisilau did cross after finding a gap and speeding past Doak.
Gavin added to his positive ledger with a finish from close range to add a consolation score before Max Deegan’s deliberate knock handed England a penalty try. The final act of desperation was a fitting metaphor for Ireland’s performance.
Scoring sequence: 12 mins: Hassell-Collins try, Atkinson con 7-0; 17: Bolton try 7-5; 25: van Portvliet try, Atkinson con 14-5; Half-time 14-5; 74: Fisilau try, Shillcock con 21-5; 76: Gavin try, Doak con 21-12; 80: Penalty try England 28-12.
England A: Joe Carpenter; Tobias Elliott, Max Ojomoh, Will Butt, Ollie Hassell-Collins; Charlie Atkinson, Jack van Portvliet (capt); Phil Brantingham, Curtis Langdon, George Kloska; Hugh Tizard, Tom Lockett; Tom Pearson, Jack Kenningham, Alfie Barbeary.
Replacements: Greg Fisilau for Barbeary (27-37, HIA), Tarek Haffar for Brantingham, Gabriel Oghre for Langdon, Luke Green for Kloska, George Hendy for Elliott (all 49), Richard Capstick for Tizard, Fisilau for Barbeary (both 58), Jamie Shillcock for Atkinson (59), Will Porter for van Portvliet (67).
Ireland A: Shane Daly; Tommy O’Brien, Jude Postlethwaite, Hugh Gavin, Shayne Bolton; Ciarán Frawley, Nathan Doak; Tom O’Toole, Diarmuid Barron, Jack Aungier; Evan O’Connell, Darragh Murray; Max Deegan, Alex Kendellen, Sean Jansen.
Replacements: Stephen Smyth for Barron (5 mins, HIA), Harry Byrne for Daly (21), Fintan Gunne for Byrne (26), Oli Jager for Aungier, Conor O’Tighearnaigh for O’Connell (both 45), Paddy McCarthy, for O’Toole (55), Brian Gleeson for Frawley (55. HIA) Alex Soroka for Jansen, Aungier for Jager (both 70).
Yellow card: Max Deegan
