Ireland head coach Richie Murphy cut a contented figure after his side’s 30-10 victory over Australia in the Under-20 World Championship at Paarl Gimnasium.
The only downside, and it is a significant setback, is that the yellow card shown to replacement wing Rory Telfer for a high tackle on 77 minutes was subsequently upgraded to a red as part of the TMO bunker review protocol.
On the basis of the outcome of Irish centre Hugh Cooney’s disciplinary process, it’s likely that Telfer will receive a three-game suspension, reduced to two if he undergoes ‘tackle school’.
Ireland only took 13 backs to the tournament and given that both players have been suspended following red cards they cannot be replaced. Essentially Murphy’s side may have only 11 backs from which to choose for the next two games.
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The team’s four-try bonus point means that the Six Nations Grand Slam champions are still very much in the running to make the cup semi-finals ahead of their final game against Fiji next Tuesday (12.30, Irish time, live on Virgin Media).
Left wing James Nicholson, captain and hooker Gus McCarthy, number eight Brian Gleeson and replacement flanker Diarmuid Mangan grabbed the Irish tries with outhalf Sam Prendergast kicking two penalties and a conversion and another replacement Harry West tagging on the final conversion.
Murphy said: “A bonus-point win in Paarl, [we’re] delighted with the boys’ effort and their ability to stick to the game plan which was the squeeze Australia in that second half,” a reference to Ireland’s set-piece dominance after the Australians lost their first choice tighthead prop Massimo de Lutiis in the first half and the fact that they prevailed 19-0 in the post-interval scoring stakes.
The Irish coach continued: “We started slowly enough, giving up field position early on and a couple of penalties put us on the back foot with the penalty count [initially] going against us. But we showed great character to stick in it and obviously take the lead with that early penalty.
“That first half was sort of a bit ‘to-and-fro’ but just at the start of the second half I thought our scrum dominance, our maul dominance really paid off and gave us great field position. The guys never let Australia out of their half which was very satisfying.
“To get the bonus point at the end of the game was a big plus for us and puts us back in control of our own destiny in relation to making the semi-finals.”
