The Ireland U19’s team was unable to make it a run of two victories when they met the France U19’s at the FFR Academy Headquarters at Marcoussis on Saturday evening.
The Ireland team lost the game by 32-10 in a game in which the home team had built up a 27-3 lead by the break. The French team scored five first half tries, one of which was converted, in a period of time in which they controlled all aspects of the game. In response, on a rare incursion into French territory, the Ireland team put three points on the board through the trusty boot of David O’Mahony.
The Ireland coaching team of Peter Malone, Kieran Campbell and Conor Twomey made a number of changes in the course of the second half. Two yellow cards did not help the Ireland cause but there was an improvement in the Ireland performance. The pack started to produce some quality possession which enabled the Irish team to put some pressure on the French line. The Ireland team got some reward for their endeavours when David O’Mahony scorched in for a try midway through the second period. David added the extras to reduce the arrears to 27-10.
Despite losing a player to a”Red Card” the French team scored one more try just minutes from the final whistle. The try was not converted but the French team had registered a 32-10 victory.
While the entire Irish squad was disappointed with the outcome of this game they can return home proud of their achievements having travelled to Marcoussis and defeated the French U19 team in their first outing on Wednesday evening.
Replacement players used:-
Conor O’Brien on for Jacob Stockdale 7 minutes
Ben Betts on for Conor Kenny 7 minutes
Max Deegan on for Dan Trayers 25 minutes
Matthew Byrne on for Joe White 25 minutes
Vincent O’Brien on for Jonny Molony 25 minutes
Jimmy O’Brien on for Andrew Magrath 37 minutes
Sean O’Connor on for Hugh Sloan 45 minutes
Peter Claffey on for Michael Melia 48 minutes
Andrew Porter on for Vahk Abdaladze 55 minutes
Vahk Abdaladze on for Ben Betts 65 minutes
