Ireland U20s miss semi-final place to powerful New Zealand
The Ireland Under-20s will face Wales in the 5th-8th place play-offs at the World Rugby U-20 Championship, after losing their final pool game 25-3 to New Zealand.
Nigel Carolan's youngsters finished their Pool C campaign as runners-up to the unbeaten Baby Blacks, their eight-point haul seeing them ranked sixth for the knockout stages where they will play Wales at the same Viadana venue next Monday night (kick-off 8.30pm local time/7.30pm Irish time).
Joey Carbery's 16th-minute penalty gave Ireland a brief lead in tonight's round 3 tie; however New Zealand responded strongly with a Tevita Li try and two Otere Black penalties for an 11-3 half-time lead.
Ireland lost captain Nick McCarthy to a shoulder injury before the break, and two quick-fire converted tries from winger Li (44 minutes) and flanker Blake Gibson (49) opened up a 22-point gap.
The best Irish try-scoring opportunity saw hard-working flanker Josh Murphy held up over the line, while they did well to avoid leaking a fourth try to the ever-threatening Kiwis.
Amid a scrappy opening spell, recalled winger Jack Owens chased down a kick towards the New Zealand try-line but Li got back to cover the danger.
Carbery missed two penalty attempts inside the first seven minutes, the first falling short from a difficult angle on the left and he was wide with a second effort from the opposite wing.
The Irish scrum and maul offered a solid platform of possession and New Zealand's attack was well contained initially; centre Garry Ringrose standing out with a couple of key tackles. Out-half Carbery, who threatened with a half-break, duly landed his third shot at the posts - this time from a central position.
But New Zealand hit back within two minutes, scrum half Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi almost sniping through on the right before out-half Black's accurate long pass released Li for a simple finish in the left corner. Black missed the difficult conversion.
Ireland's lineout was functioning well and they managed to exert some pressure on the Kiwis' throws, stealing a couple of balls as well threading through some clever kicks from the heavily-involved Sam Arnold and Jacob Stockdale.
However, New Zealand were finding points easier to come by and a quick turnover led to them winning a penalty in the 22, which Black stuck over for 8-3.
Ireland's defence coped well with a speedy onslaught from the Baby Blacks, a monster hit by Murphy stopping Li in his tracks, but they suffered a setback with the injury-enforced departure of experienced scrum half McCarthy.
Although Stockdale did well to bring down Akira Ioane in a one-on-one, some late pressure led to prop Andrew Porter infringing at a ruck and Black mopped up with the three points.
The individual errors were proving costly for Ireland and, on the restart, they fell further behind as New Zealand pressed in the 22 and Li slipped out of a tackle from Murphy to go in under the posts for a seven-pointer.
Nathaniel Apa then had a try ruled out for a forward pass from the increasingly influential Li, but Ireland gave way just moments later when the Kiwis won the resulting scrum against the head and Gibson burrowed over in the left corner.
Black swept over a terrific conversion and Ireland, with Tomás Quinlan and Conan O'Donnell both on, dug deep in their efforts to hit back. New Zealand defended well from a couple of close-in lineouts, though, and a well-positioned Li was first to reach Quinlan's clever kick through.
Into the final quarter, prop O'Donnell had an impact in the scrum as Ireland forced a penalty inside the Kiwi 22 and following two well-orchestrated mauls, blindside Murphy was just thwarted from close range.
FT: NZL 25 - IRL 3. Unfortunately NZL broke the Irish defence to score 2 tries in the 2nd half. #WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/oOr3uoNcUF
— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) June 10, 2015
New Zealand had a let-off when a crooked throw from Adam McBurney gave them a relieving penalty five metres out, and there were plenty of errors as both sides tired in the closing stages.
Ireland determinedly continued to probe for openings with Carbery one of their liveliest and most threatening runners with ball in hand and from the boot.
Space was at a premium, though, and New Zealand ultimately ran out comfortable three-try winners.
Tries: Tevita Li 2, Blake Gibson; Cons: Otere Black 2; Pens: Otere Black 2
Pen: Joey Carbery
Luteru Laulala (Canterbury); Tevita Li (North Harbour), Jack Goodhue (Canterbury), Nathaniel Apa (Canterbury), Vincent Tavae-Aso (Auckland); Otere Black (Manawatu), Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi (Taranaki); Isileli Tu'ungafasi (Auckland), Liam Polwart (Auckland), Atunaisa Moli (Waikato) (capt), Joshua Goodhue (Canterbury), Hamish Dalzell (Canterbury), James Blackwell (Wellington), Blake Gibson (Auckland), Akira Ioane (Auckland).
Tau Koloamatangi (Waikato) for Tu'ungafasi, Ricky Riccitelli (Hawke's Bay) for Polwart (both 53 mins), Mitchell Hunt (Auckland) for Laulala (54), Henry Stowers (Wellington) for Blackwell (58), Harrison Levien (Waikato) for Tahuriorangi, Aidan Ross (Bay of Plenty) for Moli (both 66), Tinoai Faiane (Auckland) for Goodhue (70). Not used: Mitchell Dunshea (Canterbury).
Billy Dardis (UCD/Leinster); Jack Owens (Queen's University Belfast/Ulster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Sam Arnold (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Jacob Stockdale (Queen's University Belfast/Ulster); Joey Carbery (UCD/Leinster), Nick McCarthy (UCD/Leinster) (capt); Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Sean McNulty (UCD/Leinster), Oisin Heffernan (Terenure College/Leinster), David O'Connor (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Alex Thompson (Queen's University Belfast/Ulster), Josh Murphy (UCD/Leinster), Rory Moloney (Buccaneers/Connacht), Lorcan Dow (Queen's University Belfast/Ulster).
Liam O'Connor (Cork Constitution/Munster) for Porter (11-28 mins; 66), Charlie Rock (Old Belvedere/Leinster) for McCarthy (35), Tomás Quinlan (Cork Constitution/Munster) for Dardis, Conan O'Donnell (Sligo/NUIG/Connacht) for Heffernan (both 49), Cian Romaine (Buccaneers/Connacht) for Thompson, Stephen McVeigh (Buccaneers/Connacht) for Dow (both 60), Adam McBurney (Ballymena/Ulster) for McNulty (66), Fergal Cleary (Lansdowne/Leinster) for Arnold (71).
Matthew Carley (England).
