England 34 Ireland 34
Ireland let a ten-point lead slip late on as a breathless World Rugby U20 Championship opener against England ended level.
An end-to-end contest saw first-half tries from Sam Prendergast, George Hadden and James McNabney help Ireland in a 15-10 interval lead in Paarl, only for England to capitalise on Diarmuid Mangan's sin-binning by scoring two tries to move nine points in front.
Ireland hit back with three unanswered tries, the latter two coming while England openside Greg Fisilau was binned, and led 34-24 with 14 minutes remaining.
However, some costly errors were pounced upon as England drew level and Ireland were forced to withstand some late pressure following Hugh Cooney’s 75th-minute red card for a dangerous tackle.
Ireland out-half Prendergast scored the first of his side’s six tries but he endured a difficult afternoon off the tee, missing his first four conversion attempts.
Ireland boxed clever against a physically imposing England side, dismantling the opposition lineout, and they moved in front on 12 minutes when Prendergast crashed through two defenders to score.
A try for loosehead Hadden off a close-range tap penalty was quickly cancelled out by his opposite number Asher Opoku-Fordjour, with Connor Slevin's penalty drawing England level at 10-10.
But Ireland had the final say of a frantic first half with No 8 McNabney barging over following another quick tap.
A sloppy start to the second period saw Ireland come under increasing pressure. Mangan was yellow-carded for cynically slowing the ball on his own tryline, and a penalty try quickly followed as England’s scrum dominance was rewarded.
Ireland appeared in trouble when replacement Jacob Cusick cruised over for England’s third try on 52 minutes, but the 14 men responded with a wonderfully crafted score as Fintan Gunne’s cross-field kick picked out an unmarked Ruadhan Quinn on the left flank.
Moments after Mangan returned from the sin bin, England were reduced to 14 when the TMO flagged a high tackle by Fisilau on John Devine, and Ireland struck for a further two tries in four minutes.
Prendergast put full-back Henry McErlean over following a powerful driving maul, before a lovely break and offload by Devine teed up his centre partner Cooney.
Prendergast converted both tries to make it 34-24 but Irish errors allowed England to draw level. Slevin cut the gap to seven with a penalty, and he then nailed a touchline conversion after Cusick crossed for his second try following an overthrown lineout by Ireland.
Ireland finished with 14 after Cooney was dismissed and they were forced to defend their tryline at the death as England pressed for a winner.
Ireland face Australia in their next Pool B match in Paarl on Thursday (kick-off 10am Irish time).
