Ireland U20 came up just short of an opening day win in the 2014 IRB U20 Junior World Championship in New Zealand with France holding on for a win in a dramatic match. However the losing bonus point keeps Ireland in the hunt for a top four finish.

Ross Byrne got the ball rolling for Ireland with a 6th minute penalty but with France dominating most of the contact areas from early in the game the lead didn’t last long.

A brace of penalties in the next 10 minutes saw Baptiste Serin push the French in front 6 – 3 and 15 minutes later the French scrum-half stepped up to knock over the conversion to Ivan Roux‘s try.

Trailing 16 – 3 Ireland knew they had to get back into the game before the break and they did just that with a Cian Kelleher try, converted by Byrne, on the 35th minute as they showed signs of getting on top of their opponents. Unfortunately, it was France who had the last say of the half with Brandon Fajardo knocking over a stonking drop goal to give France a 16 -10 lead at the break.

The game was decided in the third quarter. Ireland looked to be well on top but were unable to add any points and a second crisp drop from Fajardo pushed France 9 points clear at the start of the final quarter.

Ireland did hit back through a penalty from replacement Conor McKeon with 12 minutes remaining but they were unable to further trouble the scoreboard as France held on for a 19 – 13 win.

IRELAND U20: Cian Kelleher, Ciaran Gaffney, Garry Ringrose, Dan Goggin, Ian Fitzpatrick, Ross Byrne, Nick McCarthy, Peter Dooley, Max Abbott, Craig Trenier, Stephen Gardiner, Ross Molony, Peadar Timmins, Frankie Taggart, Jack O’Donoghue. Replacements: Dylan Donnellan, Denis Coulson, Rory Burke, Darragh Moloney, Diarmaid Dee, Ryan Foley, Conor McKeon, Billy Dardis