Greg Roche Munster U20s

Munster U20s

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Leinster made it two from two in their interprovincial raid

on the Sportsground when the U-20s defeated the Connacht U-20s in a Galway thriller, 61-34.

A hat-trick of tries for Conor Oliver and Jeremy Loughman laid the foundation as Joey Carbery hit eight conversions. Connacht hit the ground running and they spread the ball and brought with it a ferocious tempo from the outset. Three minutes in, Galwegian hooker Rory Litchfield plundered his way through a gap and gave an off-load to the on-rushing Anthony McGivney. A few phases later Connacht went in under the posts when Conor Lowndes spotted McVeigh in a mismatch before the flanker hammered his way over and gave Connacht the early lead that Lowndes converted.

Leinster were on the back foot but they came right back into the game with the very next attack. Connacht’s Dwayne Corcoran threw a sloppy pass and Leinster capitalised to apply the pressure.

The quick clear-out resulted in some clean ball for scrum-half Charlie Rock and he combined with St Mary’s No 7, Oliver who raced over unopposed. Carbery made no mistake with the conversion and the teams were level at 7-7 after just seven minutes of play. The bright opening continued as Connacht went back up into Leinster territory and eventually forced a penalty. Lowndes was the calmness personified as he slotted over from wide out on the left as Connacht regained a three-point lead. However with the way this game was going it was only a matter of time until Leinster replied and this came by way of an O’Donoghue try. Cormac Brennan relayed his pass to Oliver who found Cian O’Donoghue and the Leinster No 11 and Clongowes man finished in the corner to make it 12-10 before Carbery gave Leinster a four-point lead.

However Connacht had no reply this time and in the 27th minute Leinster put a bit of daylight between the sides for the first time. Blackrock tight head, Loughman started the move that he finished when he raced clear initially before being taken down by McGivney but he was on-hand when Josh Murphy was held up short and he nabbed Leinster’s third five-pointer.

Carbery was once more immaculate with the boot and Leinster led 21-10 just before the half-hour. Leinster got their fourth and Oliver’s second in the 36th minute as he was in the right place as a miss-place pass found its way through Jack Dwan and David O’Connor allowing Oliver to have the simplest of run-ins.

Leinster were far superior at this point and the gaps started to regularly appear in the Connacht rearguard. O’Donoghue was the next to profit and he got his second try after he latched onto a Robert Vallejo pass. It was 35-10 when Carbery added the extras but there was sense of reprieve from the visitors as they launched another offensive that culminated in a Josh Murphy and Oliver switch with the latter getting his third of the day to make it 42-10 after Carbery’s kick.

Carbery showed a chink in his armoury before the break when he got yellow after persistent fouling and Connacht got a consolation try through Alex Penny but even after Lowndes conversion, Leinster led 42-17 at half-time. Connacht needed something at the start of the second 40 minutes and they amped up the intensity in search of a try which duly arrived.

A penalty was kicked to the corner and when the line-out looked over-thrown Lowndes produced a moment of brilliance with a kick-through that he finished himself. Connacht now trailed 42-22 but it was only a matter of time until Leinster reasserted their dominance and Loughman got his second to give his side a 25-point lead with 50 minutes gone.

Again Connacht fought back and when they took a penalty on

the Leinster 22, Connacht rushed for the corner with Aidan Moynihan giving the pass to Oisin Leahy who crossed for his try. The match was quickly entering the sensational category and Leinster captain Charlie Rock added to this when he got a try in the 55th minute.The replacements on both sides disrupted the flow of the game but Conor Lowndes kept his impressive day in check when he went over for his second. Josh Murphy got his name on the scoresheet in the 69th minute for Leinster when he barrelled over and the game petered out, but it was hugely impressive from Leinster.

SCORERS - Connacht: C Lowndes 2 tries, A Penny, S McVeigh, O Leahy 1 try each; C Lowndes 3 cons; C Lowndes 1 pen. Leinster: C Oliver, J Loughman 3 tries each, C O’Donoghue 2 tries, C Rock, J Murphy 1 try each; J Carbery 6 cons.

Leinster Under-20’s narrowly lose to Ulster...

The Ulster U20 side kept their Inter-Pro Championship dreams on track with a hard fought 15-10 victory over Leinster at the Kingspan Stadium. An win over Munster next weekend will clinch the inter-provincial title...

Ulster opened with an excellent first 20 minutes, but were rewarded with only 7 points but it could have been much more.

In the 8th minute a solid scrum on half way released the Ulster backline with Sean O’Hagan finding Conor McKee who broke the line before providing the neat scoring pass to centre partner Sam Arnold. O’Hagan added the extras with a well struck kick.

Arnold almost scored again moments later when O’Hagan made an incisive break but after drawing the fullback, his pass was just behind his supporting team-mate. Leinster responded when right wing Adam Leavy touched down a loose ball was quickly moved right after where the Ulster defence were found wanting. Joseph Carbery landed the difficult conversion to tie the score at 7 points a-piece.An O’Hagan penalty gave Ulster a 10-7 lead after the visitors strayed offside giving the home side a narrow 10-7 halftime lead. Leinster were back on level terms in the 44th minute with a well struck Carbery penalty goal. The game became very nip and tuck with the Leinster testing the home defence on several occasions, scrum half and skipper was a real threat on a couple of occasions Arnold grabbed his second with 15 minutes to play after superb work by his forwards. Some big carries, particularly from hooker Zack McCall and second row Lorcan Dow took play to within a metre of the line where Arnold was on hand to crash over for the winning try. Jack Milligan - on the field after replacing O’Hagan - saw his conversion attempt rebound off the post.The visitors pushed for a late match-winning score but Ulster defended resolutely to hold them out and seal the vital win.

Leinster U-20 turn on style in Munster win

The Leinster U20s were as good as advertised in a high-tempo, high quality 32-20 victory over Munster on the opening evening of the U20 Interprovincial Championship out in Ashbourne RFC on Friday.

The relaying of a new surface at Donnybrook has forced the Leinster Age-Grade teams to look for alternative venues for the Interpros and there are few more intimate than the County Meath club.

On a balmy night and a fast track, Munster were first to threaten, wing Greg O’Shea and Paul Kiernan combining on a raid down the right before Leinster centre Conor O’Brien’s offload almost released Harrison Brewer down the other end. Soon, Munster half-back Jack Cullen latched onto a grubber for what looked like

a try only for Jack Power to whip away his legs in the tackle. The full-back did not release, and the resulting Munster penalty from fly-half Tomas Quinlan whacked against the upright.

Not long after, Leinster centre Harrison Brewer cut back for a gain of ground, but fly-half Joey Carbery’s side-door pass was seen as forward. They came again. Brewer made the gain line.

Left wing Robert Vallejo showed awareness to flip the ball inside for second row David O’Connor to eventually touchdown for 5-0 in the 11th minute.

Munster’s restart went sky high to allow their chasers to apply pressure. The mistake came and it was compounded by a scrum penalty which was nicely dispatched by Quinlan in the 15th minute. The smash and grab tactics of Leinster’s hitting turned defence into attack for prop Andrew Porter to split the first line of resistence. Flanker Conor Oliver calmly drew in the last defender to send number eight Nick Timoney into the left corner. Carbery made the touchline conversion look like a formality for 12-3.

The confidence started to flow for the boys in blue. Second row Jack Dwan scythed through the middle and intelligently delayed his pass for the onrushing traffic. Adam Leavy’s sleight of foot almost worked down the right.

Then, Oliver had to be vigilant to haul down Gearoid Lyons.

Scrum-half Cullen seized on Leinster’s disorganisation to eat up the ground, creating an overlap which O’Shea put on the floor.

Increasingly, the game was being played on Leinster’s terms.

Munster tended to look for territory, while the blues looked for space on the counter-attack, none more than Power, whose movement onto an inside ball was the key to Leavy’s swift finish in the 31st minute. Carbery converted from the left touchline.

Referee Stuart Gaffikin decided that prop Andrew Porter’s illegality at scrum time was deserving of a yellow card. He followed Power into the bin. The temporary reduction to fourteen men was set aside as Carbery lashed over a penalty from distance in added time. Munster front rowers Mick O’Donnell and Sean McNulty powered onwards for real front-foot ball that full-back Fitzgerald almost turned into a try only to be called back for a forward pass to leave it 22-3 at the interval. The visitors started with a renewed sense of purpose, Fitzgerald posing a danger on the ball and Cullen moving it quickly away from the base. They couldn’t turn it into points. Leinster’s precision was too much to handle. Vallejo came in off his wing to spin the ball wide for Power to set up the recycle. A revived Porter hammered onto a flat pass for the fourth try in the 48th minute, converted by Carbery. The basics were killing Munster as they were able to create openings without the accuracy to make profit out of them, despite the impact of flanker Luke O’Leary, centre Paul Kiernan and Fitzgerald. Within the space of a minute, they were held up over the line and knocked on over it. Eventually, they got their reward as lock Frank Bradshaw-Ryan steamed to the line off the back of a lineout for centre Gearoid Lyons to kick the extras for 29-10 in the 63rd minute.

They just could not consolidate straight away. Leinster forced a penalty from the restart and Carbery knocked over another three-pointer before Munster’s persistence paid off again through replacement prop Liam O’Connor.

Leinster had their chances to respond. Replacement Greg Jones almost put Porter in for his second. But, it was Munster’s solid work in close that worked to the benefit of O’Connor for his second to narrow it down to 32-20 in the 79th minute.

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