Wales Under-21 just win in Ireland

England, France in big wins

In Round 3 of the Six Nations for Under-21s, England and France had big and expected victories while in Ireland Wales got home by just one point.

Wales had to resists a spirited fightback by the Irish side to win their Under-21 international by a point while England had it easy in wet Scotland.

Results of the Under-21 Six Nations after three rounds are:

Results up till now:

Round 1

England vs Wales, 26-18
France vs Scotland, 37-0
Ireland vs Italy, 34-9

Round 2

England vs Italy, 48-3
France vs Ireland, 29-10
Wales vs Scotland, 34-24

Round 3

England vs Scotland, 49-22
Wales vs Ireland, 14-13
France vs Italy, 51-5

Ireland vs Wales at Dubarry Park, Athlone on 24 February

It was expected to be close and could not have been closer than a one-point victory, 14-13 to Wales as Ireland fought back with a late try by fullback Fionn Carr, converted by Jonathan Sexton.

James Hook was once more the pivotal man for Wales Under-21s as his 80th-minute try ensured his side's second successive win of the Under-21 Six Nations championship.

But Ireland were not finished and in the fourth minute of injury time they were reward with respectability when Carr scored and Sexton converted.

The end was fairly good for the fighting Irish but the beginning was not for the French referee sent lock Daniel Tuohy to the sin bin for a ruck stamp after only three minutes. But Ireland scored first when flyhalf Conan Doyle kicked a penalty goal.

After that the Welsh pack took over and it was their endeavours which deprived Ireland of  ball and set up victory for their own side.

It was their forwards who set up their first score as they battered their way over for a try from a line-out sclored by lock Alun Wyn Jones muscle over for a try. Hook converted from out on the right for a 7:3 lead.

Wales then ended the half down to 13 men when the referee sin-binned lock Dominic Day and prop Phil Osborne in quick succession for ruck offences at the end of the first half.

Doyle converted the resultant penalty for Day's misdemeanour, reducing the gap to one point, but for Osbourne's offence he hit the woodwork and stayed out.

Wales had the wind in the second half and used it. But they battled till they attacked, handled well and sent flank Rhys Shellard over for the try which made the game safe.

Scorers:

For Ireland:
Try: Fionn Carr
Con: Jonathan Sexton
Pens: Conan Doyle 2

Wales:
Tries: Alun Wyn Jones, James Hook
Cons: Hook 2

Teams:

Ireland Under-21: 15 Fionn Carr, 14 Peter Durcan, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Tom Gleeson, 10 Conan Doyle, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Sean O'Brien, 7 Ejike Uzoigwe, 6 Michael Essex,  5 Daniel Touhy,  4 Devin Toner, 3 Paul Doran:Jones, 2 Stuart Philpott (captain), 1 Callum Black
Replacements used: Duncan Williams, Michael Diffley, Billy Holland, Jonathan Sexton. Not used: Sean Cronin, David McGowan, Dale Black.

Wales Under:21: 15 Jamie Roberts, 14 Darren Daniel, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Tom Riley, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 James Hook, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Tom Smith (captain) , 7 Rhys Shellard, 6 Craig Everett, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Phil Osborne, 2 Duane Goodfield, 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements used: Ian Jones, Ben Lewis, Liam Davies, Dafydd Hewitt, Will Jones, Ian Jones, Ed Shevington, Aled Thomas.

Referee: Jean:Pierre Mathieu (France)

Scotland vs England at Falkirk Stadium on 24 February

England inflicted a third defeat on the Scots when they won 49-22 on the wet evening.

It was the second half which settled the outcome as England racked up 22 points to just seven for the Scots.

Scottish coach Iain Paxton said afterwards: "We battled hard in the first half and played well but ultimately their physicality and fitness and their overall pressure started to have an effect. Errors started to creep into our game and they capitalised."

Weak tackling on fullback Mike Brown set up the first try for England, scored by scrumhalf Ben Foden. But back came the brave young Scots with a try by Alan MacDonald which brought the score to 10-all before the Scots took the lead as it was ben Addison's turn to profit from weak tackling with a try.

Just before half time, England's Tom Evans beat Addison to the ball to claim the touchdown. That try enabled the visitors to beat 17-15 at the break.

England had the wind behind them in the second half an stretched their legs for the victory.

Scorers:

For Scotland Under-21:
Tries: MacDonald, Robertson, Law
Cons: Blair 2
Pen: Blair.

For England Under-21:
Tries: Foden 2, Evans 2 Allen 2
Cons: Lamb 5
Pens: Lamb 3

Teams:

Scotland Under-21: 15 James King, 14 Ben Addison, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Garry Law, 11 Lee Kibble, 10 Dce Blair (captain), 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Michael Robertson, 7 Alan MacDonald, 6 Scott Newlands, 5 Ian Nimmo, 4 James Eddie, 3 David Young, 2 Sean Crombie, 1 Ryan Grant
Replacements used: Kyle Traynor, Calum Forrester, Ross Miller, Iain Kennedy, R obert Cairns.

England Under-21: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Matt Cornwell, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 T Evans, 10 Ryan Lamb , 9 Ben Foden, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Michael Hills, 6 James Haskell, 5 Tom Croft, 4 Richard Blaze, 3 David Wilson, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Dylan Hartley
Replacements used: A Rogers, Mark Lambert, Tom Ryder, Chris Robshaw, Nick Runciman, T Masson, N Abedanon.

Referee: Paulo Ventura
Touch judges: Gianluca Bonacci, Mauro Dordolo
Assessor: Doug Kerr

France Under-21 vs Italy Under-21 at Alençon on Friday, 24 February 2006

France had little difficulty in resisteing the Italian invasion of Normandy, winning 51-5.

It was freezing cold in Normandy but the Italians hung in till half way through the first half when the French suddenly took their score from 8-0 to 34-0.

In the second half they moved the score up to 44-0 before Diego Varani scored for Italy to make it 44-5 but France had the last word when centre Grégory Puyo scored.

Scorers:

For France:
Tries: Médard 2, penalty try, Malonga, Ouedraogo, Boussuge, Merabet, Puyo
Cons: Cibray 3, Wisniewski
Pen: Cibray

For Italy:
Try: Varani

Teams:

France Under:21: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Jacques Boussuge, 13 Thibault Lacroix, 12 Grégory Puyo, 11 Florian Denos, 10 Maxime Mermoz, 9 Fabien Cibray (captain), 8 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Steve Malonga, 5 Yohan Carpentier, 4 Loic Jacquet,  3 Damien Weber, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Yohan Montès.
Replacements: 16 Medhi Merabet, 17 Arnaud Heguy (Bayonne), 18 Julien Le Devedec, 19 Nicolas Bontinck, 20 Christophe Clarac, 21 John Wisniewski, 22 Arnaud Mignardi

Italy Under:21: 15 Riccardo Robuschi, 14 Diego Varani, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Michele Sepe, 11 Marco Neethling, 10 Paolo Buso, 9 Emmanuel Billot, 8 Max Castrogiovanni, 7 Nicola Cattina, 6 Marco Filippucci, 5 Paul Derbyshire, 4 Alberto Saccardo, 3 Andrea Giazzon, 2 Lorenzo Giovanchelli, 1 Andrea Michelini
Replacements: 16 Alberto De Marchi (Orved San Donà), 17 Simone Lorenzini, 18 Andrea Barbieri, 19 Michele Sutto, 20 Fabio Semenzato, 21 Enrico Ceccato I, 22 Enrico Patrizio

Referee: Peter Allan (Scotland)
Touch judges: Graeme Hannah (Scotland), Alan Forrest (Scotland)