LONG BEFORE THE dust settled on Musgrave Park on Friday night, it became apparent that Richie Murphy’s Ireland U20s would not be matched in virtually any department by their Welsh counterparts.
They came within three minutes of duck-egging Byron Hayward’s visitors and even after they were, at last breached, Ireland went down the other end and added an eighth try of their own to punctuate their dominance.
From such a scintillating team display, brutal and nuanced in equal measure, it was difficult to pick only five standout performers. Conversely, though, it wasn’t hard to pick the standout performer, who tops a list which is otherwise written in no particular order.
James Culhane
On a night when it felt as though Wales brought a knife to a gun-fight, Ireland snuck into a battle a nuclear weapon in the shape of the Leinster eight.
By the 77th minute, former Blackrock student Culhane had made 14 carries for 148 metres (could that be right? It felt right), breaking eight tackles and making 11 of his own.
The Welsh must have been wondering what exactly this guy’s problem was; Leinster must be salivating at the selection problem he may one day cause Leo Cullen — or a future coach if Cullen decides to take time away at the end of his current rolling deal — in their already-stacked back row.
That Ireland were retrospectively pinged for obstruction during Culhane’s break as he collected a goal-line drop out behind his own 10-metre line and drove back to within 10 metres of the Welsh line shouldn’t detract from the quality of that burst.
Culhane looks like he’s going to be a two-man job for opposition defences and his player-of-the-match award was probably wrapped up by half-time, such was his grip on the game.
Matthew Devine
The fourth Garbally College man in as many years to make the 20s squad, Corinthians and Connacht scrum-half Devine was a sparkplug for more than an hour.
A relentless pack gave him the near-perfect platform, sure, but Devine played with a kind of authoritative zip that gave his ball-carriers no choice other than to thunder through contact or around it.
With the super-composed Charlie Tector outside him, he steered play in the right direction at the right times, identifying not only obvious space in the wide channels but the potential for it.
The cherry on top of an energetic performance was a try during which Devine identified some space for himself, dancing between Welsh big men Joe Cowell and Tom Cowan before strolling under the sticks. It was entirely his score, created not even out of nothing but less than nothing; Ireland had lost momentum and a couple of yards from their own lineout before Devine picked his spot and chanced his arm. (Credit, also, to Ballymena hooker James McCormick — outstanding himself throughout, especially in the loose — who was sharp enough to pounce on the loose ball and shovel it to his scrum-half).
The extent to which almost all of his team-mates celebrated Devine’s score with him would suggest he’s a popular man in the dressing room and, if anything, he should boss them around the park with a little bit more snarl.
Reuben Crothers
It can be a bit wishy-washy to describe a performance as ‘mature’ but when a captain excels in doing all of the right things at the right time, it’s hard to know what else to call it.
Openside Crothers, a product of Wallace and Ballynahinch RFC, carried like a train and put in an exhausting shift on the deck, complemented by his blindside James McNabney and an imperious tight five of Jack Boyle, the aforementioned McCormick, Scott Wilson, Conor O’Tighearnaigh and Mark Morrissey.
But perhaps most impressive about Crothers’ skillset is his deftness of hand: he set powerful tighthead Boyle away with a flick of his wrists to begin the move that led to Ireland’s third try, scored by Morrissey, and his link-up play throughout was understated but important.
A second-year U20 international, Crothers played with the assuredness of somebody who already knows he belongs at this level — at the very least.
His temperament — while it can also be a somewhat vague term — stood out in his interactions with referee Julianne Zussman.
He burrowed over for Ireland’s bonus-point try, too, less than two minutes after leading his side back onto the field for the second half. Now, if that’s not maturity…
Chay Mullins
The provinces will have their eye on Bristol’s back-three sharpshooter.
Mullins, another second-year U20, is a fruit of the IQ vine and was a joy to watch on Friday night.
Operating from the right wing, his two finishes were of a high quality. Both were demonstrations not only of his top-end speed, but of his significant power — particularly the first, where Mullins absorbed some heavy fire in order to dot down. He would have had a hat-trick, too, if it wasn’t for those meddling officials…
On the other side of the ball, though, Mullins executed to perfection a tackle and jackal when Wales briefly began to motor early in the first half. He intervened again in the second to fly-hack a loose ball into acres of space only to get dragged down as he seemed destined to win the race to retrieve it.
The SGC Filton alum is one to keep an eye on, but good luck: blink and you’ll miss him.
Patrick Campbell
On a night when another former Pres fullback, the legendary Tom Kiernan, was mourned in advance of kick-off, Campbell could show only a handful of glimpses of his potential brilliance before his night was cut short by injury.
Unequivocally, several other Ireland players consequently left bigger imprints on the game than the Young Munster man. However, Campbell is — to my mind, anyway — worth a mention here not for the sum of his contributions but for the quality of them, and for when he made them.
The game was still very much tight when Campbell began to slice it open. The former Cork minor hurler’s passing off either hand looks tasty but what will have Munster fans doughy-eyed is the timing with which he hits the line and the speed with which he propels himself beyond it.
We saw it on that famous Munster school tour to Coventry and we saw it again on Friday night. Against Wasps, Campbell found enough space to score on his own. At Musgrave Park, on two occasions, he twice timed passes outside to Mullins after drawing in the covering Welsh defender (his opposite number Cameron Winnett on the first occasion and left wing Oli Andrew on the second). Mullins capped off the first move with a score but was denied the second time around by a deliberate knock-on by Andrew.
One just hopes that Campbell’s injury was a minor one.
