Try frenzy seals it for Ireland 'A'
Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:15
Two tries from flank Neil Best put Ireland 'A' on the road to a runaway 46-9 victory over the United State in their in their Churchill Cup pool match at in Kingston, Ontario, on Wednesday.
Ireland 'A' took a marginal (12-6) lead over the US Eagles into the half-time break, but a second half scoring riot from the Irish knocked the North Americans out of the contention for the Final.
The match, the second of two back-to-back fixtures in Kingston, gave Ireland a 1-0 record in Pool B, while the Eagles finish at 0-2 and will play off for fifth and sixth place in Chicago on June 21.
Kieran Lewis opened the Irish scoring account with a try in the 11th minute, but the conversion attempt by Johnny Sexton was wide to give the men in green a 5-0 lead.
The US then countered with a Mike Hercus penalty to make it 5-3.
Then a pulled-down scrum by the US gave Ireland a penalty try and a 12-3 lead with the Sexton conversion.
Hercus pulled the trigger a second time for the 12-6 half-time score.
The second half however saw Best score a pair of tries about five minutes apart, and the Irish squad was on the move.
Late tries from Frank Murphy, Mark MacCrae and Denis Hurley then iced the Irish victory.
Mike Hercus opened the scoring in the second half with a lone penalty for the US.
The scorers:
For Ireland Ireland 'A':
Tries: Lewis, Penalty Try, Best 2, Murphy, MacCrae, Hurley, Keatley
Cons: Sexton 2
For the USA:
Pen: Hercus 3
The teams:
Ireland 'A': 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Mark McCrea, 13 Kieran Lewis, 12 Keith Earls, 11 Brian Tuohy, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Neil Best, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Bob Casey (capt), 3 Michael Ross, 2 Denis Fogarty, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Tom Court, 17 Sean Cronin, 18 Trevor Hogan, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 David Pollock, 21 Frank Murphy, 22 Ian Keatley.
USA Eagles: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Paul Emerick, 12. Vaha Esikia, 11 Justin Boyd, 10 Mike Hercus, 9 Mike Petri, 8 Kort Schubert, 7 Jason Lett, 6 Todd Clever (captain), 5 Brian Doyle, 4 Ben Wiedemer, 3 Mate Moeakiola, 2 Mark Crick, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements: 16 Mone Laulaupeaalu, 17 Jon Vitale, 18 Mark Aylor, 19 Louis Stanfill, 20 Robbie Shaw, 21 Valanese Malifa, 22 Salesi Sika.
Referee: Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Touch judges: Andrew McPherson (Scotland), Mark Newton (Canada)
