London Irish finish U18 season on a high in exciting encounter against Bristol

London Irish U18 ended their campaign with a 34-26 victory over Bristol at Hazelwood. In what was a very competitive game from both sides, a strong second half from Irish proved enough to fend off a persistent Bristol side. While neither side can reach finals day for the season, there were plenty of impressive skills on display for the coaches to be pleased about.

London Irish end their season with victory
on the 4G pitch at Hazelwood

Both London Irish & Bristol came into the game knowing that chances of making the RFU U18 League finals day had slipped away for this year. However, there was a lot on the line for players on both sides as they seek to make an impression on coaches in vying for permanent contracts in the respective academy setups.

Bristol, since their opening day draw with local rivals Bath, have suffered some heavy defeats at the hands of Harlequins and Saracens. Academy Manager Mike Hall has said “There needs to be an all-round improvement from the Harlequins game and we are confident in our group that they can achieve that.” London Irish, current U18 champions, were hoping to build on their victory against Bath and strong attacking performance against Saracens. Irish also gave opportunities to a number of young prospects with several under 17 and under 16 players in the squad.

Irish started the brighter of the two sides with the early possession. Irish made headway into the Bristol half but solid defence was keeping them out. However, Irish scrum-half Harry Delaney’s quick thinking from a quick tap penalty caught out the Bristol defence and a pass found Russell Bennett who crossed the line for an early score. Converting his own try gave Irish a 7-0 lead.

The handling errors on both sides in the first half stifled opportunities to attack, but it was Bristol who took their chance with great pace from winger Tom Hargan to break 40m downfield to put in Josh Wright to score under the posts, levelling the scores at 7-7.

Irish finished the half the stronger of the two sides with two late scores. Swift ball from the lineout gave Irish great attacking possession, and good ball from the midfield set winger Jack Jesty up for a dash to the line and he dotted the ball down in the corner. The second score came from another quick tap penalty from Delaney who got an offload out of the tackle to Bennett who scored his second try of the game. The half ended with Irish 17-7 up on the scoreboard.

Bristol’s set piece began the second half on top with a powerful scrummage providing a good platform for the backs. From that platform Bristol sought to attack from deep but a grubber kick was collected by Irish who set up inside the 22m. While the Bristol defence was scrambling, a neat step from Rory McMichael gave Irish the first score of the half. However, Bristol hit back immediately as flanker Nick Freeman broke through the Irish defence to set up a promising position inside the Irish 22m. The ball was spun out wide to Hargan who made it over in the corner to bring the score to 24-12.

With the game really opening up there was attacking intent shown by both sides with back and forth 

scores and neither side able to dominate the other. Bennett continued to show his skill and distribution at fly half with a skilful wrap around which  had the Bristol defence creaking under the pressure and another strong carry from Irish put them over for their 5^th score. Iwan Hughes at full-back for Bristol was also showing his impressive skillset and quick feet as he broke through the Irish defence to give Sol Hutchings a simple finish to keep the game within two scores at 31-19.

With around 10 minutes left on the clock Bristol fell foul of the referee and were penalised at a ruck and received a yellow card as Irish attacked inside the 22m. Irish opted to slot the simple penalty and extended their lead to 34-19. However, shortly after Irish were also reduced to 14 men with a harsh penalty for a dump tackle that saw Elliot Quinton sent to the bin. Bristol scored from the resulting penalty as a strong maul was stopped just short by Irish but Ethan Organ carried through the Irish tacklers to score and bring the score to 34-26. Irish saw out the rest of the game in possession to seal their second victory of the season.

Both sides can be impressed with some of the skills on show in a very competitive game. Bristol will be pleased with a much improved performance from the previous week against Harlequins. Bristol had a very strong set piece with a powerful scrum that troubled the Irish pack. While there were some handling errors that cost them attacking opportunity there were impressive performances -  Tom Hargan who bagged himself two tries and Iwan Hughes who commanded the back line and held an impressive set of skills himself. Bristol will be hoping to carry the form of this game into the final match of the season against a very strong Gloucester side next Saturday at Filton.

Irish will be pleased with their last match of the season with a more complete all-round performance combining the attacking prowess they have shown all season with a more solid defensive effort. The half backs will be very pleased with their contribution as Delaney & Bennett both controlled the game well and caused trouble for the Bristol defence. The front row continued to impress and put their bodies on the line in defence. Josh Basham once again showed his leadership qualities alongside a tireless work rate, and Jack Jesty will also be pleased with his contribution as one of the younger members of the squad getting himself on the score sheet. With only two wins for the season, Irish will be disappointed considering the very strong performances throughout the season and close games that they have been involved in against other very strong sides in this year’s competition. They will be hoping to build on the impressive number of young players that have now gained valuable experience at this level and push on to compete for the title again next year.