Ireland Under-20s produced a stunning 35-27 win over England on the opening night of the Under-20s Six Nations but head coach Noel McNamara was taking it all in stride.
The Irish age-group side have not beaten England at this level in three years, and not at home in six, but Cormac Foley’s late try earned them the bonus point and denied England one.
It was an English team packed through with talent, England international Ted Hill was in the back row with Marcus Smith pulling the strings at fly-half.
But Ireland ran in four tries on the night, Dylan Tierney-Martin bagging a double and Scott Penny setting up Foley’s late score to leave McNamara a satisfied man.
“There’s not a lot that happened today that was a huge surprise to us,” said McNamara.
“I’ve worked with these players and know these players, they’re very strong in character, they’re a very cohesive unit. They’ll recognise it’s just one game. They’ve got a lot of rugby in front of them over the season. Nobody’s going to get too carried away. It’s about getting better for these boys.”
Cadan Murley, Tom Willis, and Josh Hodge all dotted down in the first half for England, but they were made to rue their profligacy in the second half at Energia Park.
Head coach Steve Bates said: “It’s very disappointing to start with a defeat, but I’m most disappointed for the players. They have worked really hard and their reaction to the loss after the game shows how disappointed they are.
“They now have a great opportunity for them to bounce back against France which will be a tough game but ultimately they have learned that if they’re not at their best then teams will put them under a lot of pressure.
“You have to give credit where it’s due, Ireland absorbed a lot of pressure and capitalised when they got their opportunities and punished any mistakes we made.”
The second game on Friday night saw Scotland Under-20s fall to a 32-22 defeat to Italy at Netherdale.
And Scotland head coach, Carl Hogg, said: “We lacked accuracy tonight. Especially in our exit zones – we put ourselves under a lot of pressure with spilled passes and poor execution.
“After half-time, we had a twenty period where we were nice and composed in our own half. We played the ball out and put some speed on the ball and we looked a dangerous side, however, unfortunately we didn’t do that over the 80 minutes.
“I thought we came in to the game with lots of energy and lots of endeavour, but because our error count was so high, it’s difficult to maintain intensity within the game.”
He continued: “When we get it right, we look a good rugby team. But we didn’t get it right over an 80-minute period.
“There was a 20-minute period where there was a good insight into what this team can achieve this Six Nations. There’s definitely talent within this team and you could see that we’re capable of playing some really good rugby.”
