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Page 1 of 2 Under 21's Ireland 13 - 14 Wales In a scrappy and dire game in windy conditions at Dubarry Park, Wales scrape a deserved win over their Celtic neighbours
It was a scrappy and poor first half, with both sides at sixes and sevens. Wales dominated for the first thirty minutes, but went behind to an early penalty to Ireland and failed to score themselves until the 25th minute when Alun Wyn Jones barged over for a deserved try that was converted by James Hook. The try galvanised Ireland who then dominated the final ten minutes of the half applying increasing pressure on a thirteen man Wales and came away with another three points. The half ended 7 - 6 to Wales, with the Welsh scrum dominant, but Ireland controlled the loose and the lineouts. the second half was just as scrappy as the first, though Wales did appear more urgent, but the dogged Ireland defence remained solid. Ireland continued to dominate the loose and the breakdown, but Wales completely dominated possession along with territory. It was not until the 79th minute that Wales broke the Irish defence with swift passing by Rhys Shellard setting James Hook free to score a fantastic try that he successfully converted himself. But it was Ireland who had the final say with a try on the final whistle that was successfully converted, but wasn't enough to deny Wales what was a hard fought but deserved victory by 14 points to 13.
TIME LINE: 3 minutes - Ireland yellow card: Daniel Tuohy (stamping); 11 mins - Ireland penalty: Conan Doyle - 3-0; 28 mins - Wales try: Alun Wyn Jones - 3-5; conversion: James Hook - 3-7; 38 mins - Wales yellow card: Dominic Day (ruck offence); Ireland penalty: Conan Doyle - 6-7; 40+1 mins: Wales yellow card: Phil Osborne (ruck offence); Half-time - Ireland 6 Wales 7; 80 mins - Wales try: James Hook - 6-12; conversion: James Hook - 6-14; 80(+4) mins - Ireland try: Fionn Carr - 11-14; conversion: Jonathan Sexton - 13-14; Full-time: Ireland 13 Wales 14
Try scorers for Wales: Alun Wyn Jones and James Hook.
James Hook kicked two conversions. Try Scorer for Ireland Fionn Carr. Conan Doyle kicked two penalties and Jonathan Sexton kicked the conversion. Man of the Match: Tom Smith.
IRELAND U-21: Fionn Carr; Peter Durcan, Darren Cave, Fergus McFadden, Tom Gleeson; Conan Doyle, Paul Marshall; Callum Black, Stuart Philpott (capt), Paul Doran-Jones, Devin Toner, Daniel Touhy, Michael Essex, Ejike Uzoigwe, Sean O'Brien.
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Michael Diffley, David McGowan, Billy Holland, Duncan Williams, Jonathan Sexton, Dale Black.
WALES U-21: Jamie Roberts; Darren Daniel, Andrew Bishop, Tom Riley, Chris Czekaj; James Hook, Martin Roberts; Rhys Gill, Duane Goodfield, Phil Osborne, Alun Wyn Jones, Dominic Day, Craig Everett, Rhys Shellard, Tom Smith (capt).
Replacements: Ed Shervington, Ian Jones, Will Jones, Ben Lewis, Dafydd Hewitt, Aled Thomas, Liam Davies. HT: Ireland U-21 6 Wales U-21 7; Sin Bin: Tuohy (Ireland) (3 mins), Day (Wales) (38), Osborne (Wales) (40+1); Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Jean-Pierre Mathieu (France)
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