Ireland denied by England in thrilling World Rugby U20 Championship opener

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