Ireland no match for dominant France in World Rugby U20 final

Ireland U20 14-50 France U20

For the third time in a row France have been crowned World Rugby U20 champions, as Ireland's emotional run through this competition came up short in the final.

Just like Ireland’s 2016 world finalists, Richie Murphy’s side will have to settle for a second place at the Junior World Cup, beaten 50-14 by a ruthless Les Bleuets in the final in Cape Town.

Just as they did against England in the semi-final, France were ruthless in the second half as they consistently made Ireland pay for their errors, with some irresistible counter-attacking rugby, scoring five of their seven tries after the break for a dominant victory.

Given how Ireland have progressed through this competition in the face of adversity following the death of Greig Oliver, there will be regrets over how this final played out, as their errors consistently gave France broken-field possession, the kind they thrive off.

Several of those errors came at the lineout, where communication seemed to be an issue between Gus McCarthy and his jumpers, with two French tries coming off the back of turnover at the setpiece.

While there will be regrets over how they allowed France to score, there can be none over how they approached the game. Twice in the opening half they turned down relatively straightforward shots at goal in favour of going for tries, and on both occasions they made it count with scores for Fintan Gunne and John Devine.

The second of those tries, both converted by Sam Prendergast, had seen them move 14-10 ahead on 30 minutes, but having fallen 17-14 behind at half time, the game flipped early in the second half.

With Paddy McCarthy sin-binned, France made their numerical advantage count with a pair of tries from which they never