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DEVASTATING DEFEAT FOR UNDER-19s
Posted: 09/Apr/07
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SCOTLAND UNDER-19 12 IRELAND UNDER-19 13
Scotland Under-19 suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Ireland in their second pool match of the IRB Under 19 World Championship in Belfast, losing 13-12 as the hosts scored a converted try to win in the final seconds at Ravenhill this evening.
Coach Peter Wright said after the match: “We’re all just devastated, especially the players. They put all the effort in and it’s just gutting to lose like that right at the end.”
The Scots were leading 12-6 as the clock ticked into injury time but the young Irishmen had pushed Scotland back to their own line and were awarded a five metre scrum on the right of the pitch. From there they took the ball infield and after several phases drove over for the try.
They needed the conversion to win but as the ball had been touched down next to the left-hand post, the goal was almost inevitable. It was struck sweetly to the delight of the home support and utter devastation of the Scotland team, ending the match 13-12 in Ireland’s favour.
The result added to an 11-6 defeat at the hands of France in the Scots’ opening championship match on Thursday night. Wright said: “The players have put so much effort into this tournament and to lose both games the way we have is hugely frustrating for them.
“We have to be critical and look at ourselves because we didn’t finish well enough tonight but we played to our game plan and the tactics on the field looked right. Ireland were reasonably dangerous at times but our defence was outstanding. We put in a huge defensive effort at the end but they managed to go over for the try.”
Scotland take on Fiji in the final pool match on Friday (13 April, kick-off 5.30pm) and Wright knows that turning his team around in the short time in between games won’t be easy. He said: “It’ll be difficult to get up after that but we need to. We want to show everyone that this is a better team than the results have shown. It hurts but we are a good side.”
All of Scotland’s points came from the boot of inside centre Stephen McColl who scored four penalties.
This article was posted on 10-Apr-2007, 07:12 by Hugh Barrow.
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