Murphy proud of composed Irish U20s as they reach final

Richie Murphy has praised the maturity of his Ireland U20 side, as they booked their place in the final of the World Rugby U20 Championship with a 31-12 win against South Africa.

The Ireland 20s are now just 80 minutes away from completing a Six Nations and World Championship double, and have matched the 2016 vintage as the only Irish sides to reach the decider of the junior World Cup.

Murphy's side outscored their hosts by four tries to two in a dominant second half, but the game was arguably won and lost in the opening 40 minutes.

South Africa dominated territory and possession for the majority of the first period, but it was Ireland who led 7-0 at the break courtesy of a James Nicholson try.

That defensive effort in the first half was the winning and losing of the game, according to the Ireland coach.

"I thought South Africa came out very strong and threw a lot of stuff at us. Our boys showed great character to stay in the fight," Murphy said.

"System-wise, I thought we did quite well, and we were delighted to be able to get out of that onslaught of pressure and soak it all up, and sneak in at half-time seven points up, which I thought was a massive turning point in the game.

"We were in a good place considering we hadn't really fired as many shots as we would have liked. A lot of that was due to South Africa being really good. Their setpiece was functioning well in the first half and that was getting them on the front foot. It's quite hard to tackle some of those big boys coming around the corners, but in fairness to our boys, we stuck at it and it gave is the opportunity.

"In the second half, we conceded early on but went straight back down and got a try off Brian Gleeson coming around off the lineout, which put us in a