Sport

Ruddock's under-20s enjoy a marked superiority over Leinster

Ireland Under-20 40 Leinster Development 15: MIKE RUDDOCK will have gleaned the rich seam in quality terms to be mined from …

JOHN O'SULLIVAN at Donnybrook
Fri Dec 23 2011 - 00:00

Ireland Under-20 40 Leinster Development 15:MIKE RUDDOCK will have gleaned the rich seam in quality terms to be mined from the current resources available to him. The Ireland Under-20 coach was able to almost entirely change his team at half-time without a significant diminution in patterns or performance.

The Irish underage team prevailed in both halves in terms of the scoreboard for a thoroughly deserved victory that was characterised by intelligent running, sharp angles, good vision and a fine appreciation in game management terms. Apart from the scrums, where their opponents enjoyed a marked superiority, the national side were sharper and more cohesive.

Daniel Qualter was outstanding in a fine Irish pack, ably supported by Aaron Conneely and in a remarkable 12-minute cameo before injury forced him to the sideline, Conor Gilsenan. There is an ethereal quality to the way in which outhalf Cathal Marsh manages a game. He has an innate appreciation of space and exploits it with either his footwork or passing.

Barry Daly and Tadgh Leader formed an impressive centre partnership, Shane Layden ran strongly from fullback while Jordan Coughlan made a consistent impact when replacing Gilsenan. Leinster suffered from the lack of a cohesion that often bedevils a scratch side but with the exception of Jack O’Connell, Andrew Boyle and Darren Hudson few enhanced their reputations.

READ MORE

Ireland raced into a 14-point lead when Qualter blocked down a kick, regathered with Gilsenan the main beneficiary as he crossed for a try. Marsh converted as he would do again, when the outhalf exploited a soft shoulder to get inside the cover and dot down.

Leinster briefly rallied when O’Connell muscled his way over from close range but the Irish side responded on 30 minutes with a third try. Marsh fielded a clearance, ran it back to half-way and then beautifully timed his pass to Daly, who had kept his depth initially before cutting an acute angle and accelerating to the posts.

Leinster’s second-half renaissance began with tries for replacement hooker David Doyle and a fine individual score from Hudson. The fullback appeared hemmed in, inches from the touchline, but showed great balance to chip the ball over a defender, collect his kick and cross for his team’s third unconverted try.

The Irish side, though, finished the stronger with a hat-trick of tries from half-time replacements. Outhalf Jack Carty embellished good work by the pack to step inside the drift defence. He converted his own effort and that of Jack Conan who intercepted a wayward pass on half-way and cantered home from 50 metres.

The final try came from replacement scrumhalf Kieran Marmion, who took a quick tap penalty inside his own half before bamboozled a succession of defenders.

The Ireland Under-20 team will finalise their preparations for the Six Nations Championship with a game against the Ulster Ravens at Donnybrook on January 2nd.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 2 mins: Gilsenan try, Marsh conversion, 0-7; 11: Marsh try, Marsh conversion, 0-14; 25: O’Connell try, 5-14; 30: Daly try, Marsh conversion, 5-21. Half-time: 5-21. 45: Doyle try, 10-21; 50: Hudson try, 15-21; Carty try, Carty conversion, 15-28; 71: Conan try, Carty conversion, 15-35; 72: Marmion try, 15-40.

LEINSTER DEVELOPMENT: D Hudson (St Mary’s); M Corballis (Old Belvedere), A Kelly (UCD), C O’Shea (Clontarf), A Boyle (UCD); N Reid (Clontarf), P O’Driscoll (Lansdowne); J O’Connell (Lansdowne), T Sexton (Lansdowne), M Moore (Lansdowne); N Keogh (Lansdowne), J Sexton (St Mary’s); C Ruddock (St Mary’s, capt), J Murphy (Lansdowne), E Masterson (Clontarf). Replacements: (all used): D Doyle (UCD), A Clarkin (UCD), J Tracey (UCD), C Owende (Old Belvedere), M Oyuga (Old Belvedere), B du Toit (DU), A Sheehan (Old Belvedere), C Ronaldson (Lansdowne), S Murphy (UCD), D Ruddock (Seapoint).

IRELAND U-20: S Layden (Connacht); C Finn (Connacht), B Daly (Leinster), T Leader (Connacht), C Boland (Connacht); C Marsh (Leinster), L McGrath (Leinster); D Merrey (Leinster), J Rael (Munster), P Reilly (Leinster); C Kindregan (Connacht), D Qualter (Connacht); S Buckley (Munster), C Gilsenan (Leinster), A Conneely (Connacht). Replacements (all used): S McCauley (Exiles), F Horan (Leinster), P Lavelle (Leinster), S Coghlan Murray (Leinster), J Carty (Connacht), K Marmion (Connacht), K McCall (Ulster), D Higgins (Connacht), A O’Connor (Leinster), J Conan (Leinster), J Coughlan (Leinster).

Referee: S Gallagher (Leinster).