Throwback Thursday - In association with Glasshouse Opticians
Search
05 Sept 2025
Search
05 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Ireland U-20s edged past Japan in Beziers to secure their place in the 2019 World Rugby U20 Championship
THE Ireland U20s rugby side secured their status in the World Rugby U-20 Championship for next season after sneaking past Japan 39-33 in their relegation play-off in Stade de la Méditerranée, Béziers, France on Sunday morning.
The nail-biting win guaranteed an 11th-place finish for Ireland at the 12-team tournament and with it qualification for the championship in 2019.
But boy did Ireland make hard work of it against gritty opponents! The Irish U-20s were hanging on to a single point lead, 34-33 with 90 seconds remaining when winger Tommy O’Brien struck for a crucial late try in the left corner.
Straight off the training ground. What a move! @IrishRugby stump the Japanese defence with beautifully worked line-out move #WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/36q4vMuFzx
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 17, 2018
Ireland, with former Munster and Ireland captain Paul O’Connell in their backroom team, led their opponents 22-12 at half-time. Japan outscored their opponents by five tries to four.
It was Ireland’s first win in five fixtures at the 2018 World Championship in France.
Garryowen's Jack Daly, a try-scoring replacement against the Scots, made his first start for Ireland U-20s in the back row.
Meanwhile, Garryowen hooker Diarmuid Barron, a key member of the Irish side during the tournament, wwas ruled out of the game with injury and has returned home.
Ireland are off to a flyer. Jonny Stewart touches down to give them the lead in this #WorldRugbyU20s Championship 11th place playoff.
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 17, 2018
Tune in Live:https://t.co/AklltmWlx7 https://t.co/mc3JcbUaQL pic.twitter.com/GSZVfTqnc0
IRELAND U-20: Michael Lowry (Banbridge/Ulster); James Hume (Banbridge/Ulster), Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster), Peter Sylvester (UCC/Munster), Tommy O'Brien (UCD/Leinster); Harry Byrne (UCD/Leinster), Jonny Stewart (Queen's University/Ulster); Jordan Duggan (Naas/Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Dublin University/Leinster), Jack Aungier (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Cormac Daly (Clontarf/Leinster), Jack Dunne (Dublin University/Leinster), Jack Daly (Garryowen/Munster), Matthew Agnew (Ballymena/Ulster), Caelan Doris (St. Mary's College/Leinster) (capt). Replacements: Dylan Tierney (Corinthians/Connacht), Jakub Wojtkowicz (Sligo/Connacht), Joe Byrne (Dublin University/Leinster), Charlie Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Joe Dunleavy (Malone/Ulster), Hugh O'Sullivan (Clontarf/Leinster), Conor Dean (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Tom Roche (Lansdowne/Leinster).
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
