 Mark McDermott will be disappointed with the result in Strabourg |
Ireland U21 side paid for mistakes in Strasbourg where they were beaten by their French counterparts who ran in four tries. The Irish trailed 22-3 at the break with Johnny Sexton landing a penalty and then converting a penalty try.
Manager Niall O'Shea put the defeat down to a litany of errors. "We were equal to the French in scrums and line-outs," he said.
"But typically French they punished the silly errors we made."
France scored their fourth try only 10 seconds into the second half, but from then on, the Irish were the much better side.
"Even in the first half if the score was 22-3 in our favour, nobody would have quibbled," said O'Shea.
"We gave them two of their three tries in the first half due to turnovers. They had nothing special, and never really looked dangerous."
Ireland U21: Carr, M Williams, Cave, Doyle, Durcan, Sexton, Marshall, Hurley, Philpott, Doran-Jones, Toner, Touhy, Noonan, Uzoigwe, Holland.
Replacements: Cronin, Black, McGowan, O'Brien, D Williams, Gleeson, McFadden.
MMIX
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