The third-place match in the World Rugby Under-20 Championship saw New Zealand triumph over Ireland by 38 to 24 at Cape Town Stadium. Although the Irish under-20s initially held a strong position, they couldn’t stave off an outstanding performance from the New Zealand team. Oliver Coffey and Jack Murphy-led the Irish team to a 12-point lead by the 33rd minute, however, their opponents from the southern hemisphere recorded an unmatched blast of 38 points around half-time. Despite finishing the game on a high note, the Irish ultimately had to settle for the fourth place in the tournament.
An unexpected change in the lineup was seen before the match, with head coach Willie Faloon replacing Finn Treacy, who retired from the matchday 23, with Sean Naughton. Consequently, Hugh Gavin had to shift to the outer channel. In spite of their struggle with the set-piece in their previous 31-20 defeat to England, the Irish team managed to stand their ground when faced with an aggressive scrum from New Zealand inside their “22” during the early phases of the match.
Despite being pushed back by New Zealand for extended durations, Ireland persistently displayed flashes of brilliant attack and scored a second try. Ben O’Connor, the fullback for the Irish team, gave up a potential spot in the Cork panel for Sunday’s All-Ireland hurling final against Clare and instead, opted for rugby. He justified his decision by setting up an exhilarating run and pass that allowed Murphy to cross over in the left-corner for an unconverted five-pointer which certainly proved a memorable moment.
Despite landing in a favourable position early on, Ireland encountered a stumbling block when Bryn Ward, son of the Andy Ward of New Zealand and former Irish international, was given a yellow card just before halftime. The New Zealand team capitalised on this when team captain, Vernon Bason, scored a try following an extensive TMO review. Dylan Pledger’s consequential bonus shot missed, nevertheless, the gap was shortened to seven points (12-5) by halftime.
This advantage was negated as Frank Vaenuku of the Baby Blacks was given a yellow card four minutes into the second half. Prior to Ireland regaining their full team, control was seized by Jono Gibbes’ squad. The game was equilibrated as Xavi Taele, New Zealand’s centre, broke through under the goal posts, a feat successfully converted by substitute player Rico Simpson. In the 47th minute, amid heavy rainfall, Bason secured his second try of the match.
New Zealand, freshly energised, consistently pressured Ireland, and not long after Vaenuku’s reappearance on the pitch, Jeremiah Collins charged over to the right of the goal posts to bag a fourth try for the Kiwis on the 56th minute. Ireland, now backed into a tight corner, saw their chance of victory diminish when Vaenuku scored two tries to compensate for his earlier sinbinning. However, not accepting defeat, the Irish team rallied and Ethan Graham and Naughton made rapid-fire finishes to lend a respectable tint to the final score.
Scoring details: For Ireland, J Murphy scored a try and 2 conversions, while O Coffey, E Graham, and S Naughton each scored one try. For New Zealand, V Bason and F Vaenuku scored two tries each, X Taele and J Collins scored one try each, with 4 conversions credited to R Simpson.
The match between Ireland and New Zealand featured the following line-ups. The Irish squad included B O’Connor, D Colbert, H Gavin, S Naughton, and H McLaughlin. Alongside them were J Murphy, O Coffey, E Calvey, S Smyth, A Mullan, A Spicer, L Murphy, J McKillop, B Ward, and B Gleeson. The following swaps took place: B Corrigan replaced Spicer at half-time, M Yarr took over Smyth at 44 minutes, B Howard for Calvey, A Sparrow for Mullan, M Flynn for Ward arrived at the 48th minute, S Edogbo for Gleeson at 61 minutes, E Graham for Colbert at 63 minutes, and J O’Riordan replaced Coffey at 68 minutes in.
As for the New Zealand side, their team comprised S Coles, K Maxwell, A Tuivailala, X Taele, F Vaenuku, C Grant, D Pledger, S Sanele, V Bason, J Smith, T Allen, C Christie, A Smith, M Lowe, and J Lee. The substitutions were R Simpson for Grant at 43 minutes, S Pole for Sanele at 48 minutes, J Collins for Lowe at 52 minutes, A-O Lolofie for Bason at 62 minutes, X Tito-Harris for Tuivailala at 63 minutes, T Cribb for Lee at 68 minutes, and W Martin for J Smith, B O’Donovan for Pledger both at 69 minutes. The referee of the match was S Abulashvili from Georgia.