Ireland Under-20s scrum-half sensation Nathan Doak scored a wonder try and bagged Player of the Match but praised his teammates past and present after the 40-12 win over Wales.
The Ulster teenager started and finished a scintillating 50-metre score at the beginning of the second half and put in a phenomenal display in Cardiff to help keep his side top of the Six Nations Under-20s table.
Cathal Forde and Chris Cosgrave scored before the break and Daniel Okeke and captain Alex Kendellen crossed for further tries after the interval to wrap up a convincing bonus-point victory for Richie Murphy’s men.
Doak said: “The boys dug deep. It’s never easy coming to Wales and playing in their backyard but all credit to the lads, we fought right until the end.
“Wales were physical but we’ve worked hard, we knew they were going to bring it to us tonight.
“I don’t usually score too many so it’s nice to get over the try line.
“We’re happy with the win, we’ll enjoy it and we’ll focus on England next week.
“We’ve looked at England and we know the threats they bring but we back ourselves and we’ll be going in with great confidence we can produce the performance we produced tonight.
“It’s credit to everyone involved in the IRFU, top to bottom.
“The guys that came before us set that platform and everyone just wants to live up to their expectations and get their hands on that trophy. We’re just trying to compete with them and get our hands on it.”
Ireland have ten points from their first two games and face England, who also boast a 100% record in this year’s Championship, next in what could be a potential Grand Slam decider in Round 3.
Wales scored two tries through captain Alex Mann and winger Carrick McDonough but ultimately came up short on home soil at the Cardiff Arms Park.
Ireland skipper Kendellen was delighted with the work of his side against a physical Welsh outfit and heaped praise on the backroom team including defence coach Denis Leamy and forwards coach Colm Tucker.
The No.8 said: “It’s not easy coming over here to Wales and beating them in their back garden, it was massive from the boys today.
“We knew how physical they were going to be and they didn’t let us down.
“They put it up to us from minute one. I’m super proud of the boys. We’re moving on to England now and hopefully we’ll get the win there as well.
“It’s all credit to Richie [Murphy], Leams and Colly, they’ve all brought us together as one. They are building something nice in here and it’s a pleasure to be a part of.
“We’ll take the day off tomorrow, look at that performance and analyse England. They are going to be a completely different beast, we know that – physically and we saw them playing in the backs today. But we can’t wait.
“We’re all in as one, we’re basically brothers at this stage. We are bonding extremely well and it’s all credit to what the coaches are doing with us.”
