'Mistakes nearly killed us' - Richie Murphy lauds young Irish side after tough France victory

Richie Murphy was full of praise for his Ireland Under-20 side who showed great fight to secure another victory in this year's Six Nations.

Ireland had to dig deep to hold off a strong and powerful France side to secure a two-point win at Musgrave Park in Cork.

Murphy’s side led by six points at the break, going on to take the nail-biting contest 33-31 thanks to a late Sam Prendergast penalty.

And the Ireland head coach admitted that he thought that his side’s mistakes may have come back to haunt them on a dramatic night in Leeside as the Under-20s made it two from two in this year’s campaign.

"What a game," said Murphy, speaking to RTÉ Sport after the game. "Everyone on the pitch gave everything that they had. There was a real innocence to it at times, and the mistakes nearly killed us.

"But we found a way to get over the line in the end, and in fairness to Sam, he really stepped up when he was under big pressure, but all the lads did.

"Goalkickers thrive on things like that and they love to get the opportunity on the big stage."

The emerging Ireland side fell behind in the second half as they attempted to contain France with just 13 men on the pitch, with two in the sin bin, and Murphy was pleased with the attitude that his side showed to come from behind to secure the win.

"We talk a lot about (resilience)," said Murphy. "The edge that they showed was incredible.

"We can be a lot more accurate and we left a lot of scores out there tonight – it felt like it should have been a 20-point lead at half time rather than six.

"But down to 13 men and to stay in the fight…"

Next up for Murphy’s side is an away trip to Italy in two weeks’ time, and the manager expects another tough task for his side, who he feels must improve if they are