England hammer 12-men Ireland

By Ryan Gould at the Racecourse Ground

 

England Students kicked off the Four Nations tournament in Wrexham with a big win over the Irish, 58-12. Ireland didn’t give themselves much of a chance though as Joe Taylor was sent off after just seven minutes.

 

After the dismissal, the current champions of the competition took complete dominance with Jack Powley getting the ball rolling as scoring goes; he was set up by Dean Chapman who was mightily impressive.

 

Jack Powley went from scorer to provider next, sending Sam Blainey over following a break and then Connor Farrell inflicted more pain on the Irish when he crashed over underneath the posts.

 

Ireland did create a few chances to try and pull back the deficit, the best to note being from a Danny O’Reagan kick that was floated to the corner. Callum Muliceen contested for the ball, but knocked on in-goal.

 

Hamish Locke went over for Englands fourth as he broke from deep and had too much pace for the covering defenders, seeing several of them off before he reached the whitewash.

 

Both Greg Scott and Pat Toft went over for scores underneath the uprights, and there was also enough time for Liam Thompson to add another on the hooter as he dived over in the corner.

 

That took England into a comfortable looking 34-0 lead at the break, and Ireland had minimal chance of reviving that scoreline. The determination was there though as they recorded two tries of their own in the second half and only conceded 24 points.

 

It was them who also started the scoring after the interval with Muliceen showing great power and leg drive down the left wing to out-muscle the England tacklers.

 

The English came back at them with three tries in 15 minutes though, Hamish Locke grabbing the first of those, which was also his second of the evening. The second came through Deon Chapman in what was a remarkable try for a second rower.

 

Matt Bradley squeezed through a gap and sent Chapman down the wing. He showed blistering pace to stay out of reach of the onrushing Welsh defenders and scored in the corner. The last of that treble came on the hour mark when Fairhead hit the defensive line and offloaded to Thompson, who ran in from close range.

 

J J Baird grabbed a second Irish try, which turned out to be a mere consolation as it was Evan Simmons who rounded off the scoring with two late tries for England.

 

England will be more than pleased with this victory, but will possibly look to improve on their defensive display after letting in two tries to a side with 12 men. They next face Scotland at the Racecourse Ground this coming Wednesday, their opponents are on the back of a 74-4 thumping against Wales. Ireland will therefore face Wales, in what is a hard game to predict.

 

You can't judge the Irish fairly on this evenings performance with 12 men for around 77 minutes. Wales have to prepare for what could happen, with Ireland still hoping to push the other sides right to the end.

 

ENGLAND STUDENTS

1.Hamish Locke

2.Marcus Brooker

3.Greg Scott

4.Jack Powley

5.Gareth Hynes

6.Pat Toft

7.Alastair Leake

8.James Wallace

9.Evan Simons

10.Lee Sanders

11.Sam Blainey

12.Deon Chapman

13.Steve Taylor

Subs:

14.Dan Haney

15.Scott Ellam

16.Charlie Eccleston

17.Tom Davies

18.Liam Thompson

19.Matt Bradley

20.Adam Fairhead

 

Tries: Powley 8, Blainey 12, Farrell 21, Locke 23, 45, Scott 32, Toft 36, Thompson 40, 60, Chapman 49, Simons 75, 80.

Goals: Hynes 3/7, Fairhead 2/5

 

IRELAND STUDENTS

1.Joe Taylor

2.Jason Thong

3.Callum Muliceen

4.Ruarie Lynch

5.Daniel Moore

6.Danny O’Reagan

7.Ken Savage

8.Stephen Oakley

9.Joel Hinchcliffe

10.Matty Madden

11.J J Baird

12.Sam Wellings

13.Connor Farrell

Subs:

14.Jamie Ward

15.William Wallace

16.Sean Hogan

17.Robbie Stewart

18.Dave Lewis

19.Ronan Hogan

 

Tries: Muliceen 43, J J Baird 72

Goals: Savage 2/2

 

Teams and Scoring

Ireland						England
Player	T	G	DG	PTS		Player	T	G	DG	PTS
					1
					2
					3
					4
					5
					6
					7
					8
					9
					10
					11
					12
					13
					14
					15
					16
					17
Totals	0	0	0	0		Totals	0	0	0	0