Ireland Under 20s

Prior to the start of this season's Six Nations championship there was serious talk about the prospects of an Ireland side led by Brian O'Driscoll winning an elusive Grand Slam. Of course we all know that the dream perished in Croke Park with a 78th minute French try scored by Vincent Clerc but at under 20 level the Grand Slam hopes are still very much alive.

This current crop of underage players opened the tournament in Wales facing a much-vaunted crop of Welsh youngsters but despite the handicap of losing recent debutant full international Luke Fitzgerald to injury they returned home with a precious 17-15 win with Fitzgerald's replacement Felix Jones from Seapoint proving to be the two try hero as Ireland recovered from an early 15-0 deficit.

The series then moved to Dubarry Park in Athlone, home of Buccaneers, where the ESB were the sponsors of the two games against France and England. Following on from last season's initial sponsorship, where large crowds attended when it was an under 21 tournament to give the youngsters passionate support, ESB agreed to a three-year deal involving all future under 20 games to be played at the popular midlands venue.

First up was the visit of France and this would prove to be a particular tough assignment as the French fielded their under 21 side, refusing to change to the new age grade introduced by tournament organisers.In an exciting game Ireland found a new hero in UCD out half Ian Keatley who slotted the winning penalty goal in injury time to give Ireland their second win of the campaign and set them up for a tilt at an English team that were also Ireland Under 20's unbeaten and would in all probability turn into a Grand Slam decider.

The English were a physically bigger outfit and on a rainy night it seemed that they were built for such wintry conditions. The Irish however hadn't read the script and despite trailing to an early penalty goal they started to gradually play the more adventurous rugby and were rewarded shortly before half time when Dublin University right winger Shane Monahan crashed over in the corner at the end of a sweeping move for the game's only try that Keatley converted superbly from the touchline.

England reduced the deficit to the minimum midway through the second period but Ireland were rewarded for their enterprising play as well as their constant hounding of their opponents when Keatley added two injury time penalty goals to seal a memorable win.

With the hard work seemingly done Ireland can now look forward to visits to Scotland and Italy as they go about the job of completing the Grand Slam as the future for Irish rugby indeed looks bright.