Ireland U21 hold on for victory against Scots
Scotland Under-21s 26 Ireland Under-21s 27
Ireland held on for victory against their Scottish counterparts today, although two late tries by the Scots almost snatched victory from Ireland, who looked to be on course for a comfortable victory.
The home side took the lead with two Brian Archibald penalties before Ireland scored an opportunist try after 30 minutes.
Winger Tommy Bowe opened up space on the right-hand side and fielded the ball inside, allowing prop Declan Fitzpatrick to touch down.
Three minutes later the Irish were ahead after good combination work by Bowe and fly-half Gareth Steenson set up captain David Gannon to barge over for the try.
Steenson added the conversion and a penalty before Ireland struck again just before half-time.
Again Bowe stretched the Scots defence on the right before the ball was worked along the line for Glen Telford to touch down.
An Archibald penalty narrowed the scores, but Ireland went further ahead after the break with a drive-over try by Shane O’Connor.
Scotland fought back with a spell of sustained pressure and finally crossed the line through Robert Dewey, who steamed through after collecting a short pass from scrum-half Brendan McKerchar.
The match seemed to be petering out when two late Scottish tries ensured a grand stand finish.
Dewey rounded off a superb move, running half the length of the pitch to score, before replacement Fergus Thomson crossed two minutes later.
Colin Shaw’s conversion brought the Scots within a point, but Ireland hung on to win.
