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The Junior Wallabies’ under-20s world championship campaign is hanging by a thread after Nathan Grey’s men were overrun and overpowered in the wet in Paarl, South Africa.
Ireland – the Six Nations champions, who started their campaign with a 34-all draw against England – were well drilled at the set-piece and took advantage of Australia’s lineout and scrum woes to win 30-10.
With only the top-ranked side in each of the three pools and highest place runner-up to make the semi-finals, the defeat leaves the Junior Wallabies needing a big win over England and other results to go their way to reach the final four.
“Discipline’s a big part of the game and we let too many in the second half and gave them too much ball down our end,” Junior Wallabies skipper Teddy Wilson said.
Fintan Gunne of Ireland during the World Rugby U20 Championship 2023, Pool B match between Australia and Ireland at Paarl Gymnasium on June 29, 2023 in Paarl, South Africa. (Photo by World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
In terrible conditions where the field resembled a pig pen, the match turned on its head in the 35th minute when Junior Wallabies tight-head prop Massimo De Lutiis limped off.
Up until then, the Junior Wallabies looked to have the ascendency at the scrum.
But replacement tight-head Nick Bloomfield struggled from the outset and things didn’t get better in the second half, as the Irish, at home in the wet as the rain came down hard after the break, dominated their opponents by scoring three second-half tries.
The Junior Wallabies will feel aggrieved.
A blatant high shot from Irish blindside flanker James McNabney was missed on Junior Wallabies winger Tim Ryan in the 36th minute.
Then, on the stroke of half-time, the Junior Wallabies were penalised for hands in the ruck despite another obvious accidental offside at the breakdown.
From the resulting penalty, Ireland went ahead 11-10 as fly-half Sam Prendergast banged over a penalty.
The Junior Wallabies didn’t help themselves in the second half.
Max Craig’s lineout went awry in the wet conditions where he was pinged three times for not straight throws.
While Ryan bombed a try in the 48th minute when he spilt a simple pass from Mason Gordon with the line in sight. At the time, the Irish led 11-10.
But from that point onwards it was one-way traffic, as the Irish dominated the resulting scrum and never looked back.
David Vaihu ran the ball strongly in the first half but didn’t see enough of the pill in the second 40. (Photo by World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
Earlier, Australia looked dangerous from the outset.
A turnover in the opening minute saw the Junior Wallabies go on the attack.
Under advantage, Ryan went close to scoring out wide but was ruled to have put a toe into touch before putting down Jack Bowen’s left-to-right pass.
Skipper Wilson turned down two shots at goal as the Aussies looked for the perfect start.
It came back to bite the Aussies, as Irish winger Andrew Osborne intercepted Bowen’s attempted cut out pass. The winger was superbly rundown by Ryan.
The Irish however opened up the scoring through a penalty to Prendergast.
A stunning long-range try to Henry O’Donnell, which started with a swift backline movement before centre David Vaihu cut through the middle and linked up with Wilson before the outside centre scored.
Bowen’s long-range penalty extended the Junior Wallabies’ lead out to 10-3 midway through the opening half.
But there was little to celebrate from that point on, as the Irish put away to Grey’s men.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.