9th Place Play-off: Ireland 39-12 Scotland
(IRB.COM) Sunday 22 June 2008
By Duncan Wood
From Newport

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Kieran Essex led the way for Ireland to secure ninth place overall - Photo: Huw EvansIreland chalked up a comfortable 39-12 win over Scotland at a windswept Rodney Parade in Newport on Sunday, a result which means they clinch ninth place overall in the IRB Junior World Championship 2008.

Eric Elwood�s side were the worthy winners on the day, but Scotland put in a gallant display after the sending off of their right wing Tom Bury for kicking an opponent on the ground left them a man short for an hour. However, they always had just too much to do.

Ireland made early use of the breeze at their backs with two penalties from scrum half Ian Porter. However, Scotland made light of their numerical disadvantage and engineered several scoring opportunities with only heroic Irish defence keeping them at bay.


Things then went from bad to worse for Scotland as they lost influential centre Stephen McColl and then had second row Neale Patrick was stretchered off within minutes of each other before conceding the game�s first try just before half time when left wing Chris Cochrane touched down after a after a Scotland kick was charged down.

Trailing 13-0, Scotland had a second half mountain to climb and it only became steeper when replacement Ireland fly half Ian Madigan slid through a sublime grubber kick for outside centre Eoin O�Malley to gather and score under the posts.

However, the Scots showed real grit to bounce back when replacement Ruaridh Jackson gathered a loose ball on halfway and just outsprinted the cover to touch down in the corner for his side�s first points in the 52nd minute.

It was no more than their efforts merited and, even when Madigan put wing Dave Kearney in for Ireland�s third try after a neat blindside break, Scotland responded with a score from flanker Andrew Rose.

Yet the Irish wingers had the final word as Kearney and Cochrane finished off length of the field moves to claim their second tries in the match.

Scotland had given their all but Ireland had just too much for them with number 8 Kieran Essex leading the way and scrum half Porter�s boot important in the early stages.

QUOTES

Ireland Man of the Match Kieran Essex: �It was an entertaining game. We managed to score a few tries and unfortunately for Scotland they were on the receiving end. We�ve played them twice this year and they�ve been tight matches but the sending off and injuries hurt them.�

Ireland Head Coach Eric Elwood: �It was a good result for us. Any time you put 39 points on an opponent, it�s a good result. It�s been a long, tough tournament for us but we set out to win our last three games and we�ve done that. We know the Scots quite well and they were ravaged by injuries which was tough for them. But we can only play what�s in front of us.�

Scotland Head Coach Colin Robertson: �A bit like our overall tournament, today was a bit of a roller coaster ride. The big thing for us was only having 14 men. In any game, that makes things difficult. We regrouped reasonably well but gave the ball away too much and gifted Ireland some tries.�

Scotland Captain Lewis Calder: �It was quite frustrating. We played some good rugby in parts but our accuracy and execution let us down. They�ve got a very good back three and made us pay. It�s always tough with 14 men but we can�t use that as an excuse. The bottom line is that most of Ireland�s points came from our own mistakes.�

This article was posted on 22-Jun-2008, 15:09 by Hugh Barrow.