Joe Gage tackles Ireland's Ciaran Gaffney. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

Wales U20s 19-12 Ireland U20s

IRELAND’S U20S LET their Six Nations chances slip as they went down to a determined Wales in Parc Eirias.

Owen Watkin’s try on the stroke of half-time proved to be decisive and condemned Nigel Carolan’s side to a second straight defeat.

With England and France both winning earlier on Friday, it leaves Ireland needing a mathematical miracle to snatch the silverware.

Some staunch Irish defence ensured that the visitors were still within touching distance towards the end of a first-half which had largely been played in their territory.

The Welsh back row, led by man of the match Ollie Griffiths, were by far the hungrier at the breakdown while the Irish pack was given a torrid evening in the scrum.

Rory Thornton, Ollie Griffiths and Jarrod Evans celebrate. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

Welsh out-half Jarrod Evans kicked three penalties to Ross Byrne’s two before Watkin crossed to complete an electric breakaway seconds before the break.

Superb handling from full-back Joe Gage and wing Josh Adams set him racing free, and Evans tacked on the conversion to leave Wales 16-6 ahead at half-time.

Evans added another penalty soon after the restart to stretch the gap to 13 before two more penalties from Byrne left Ireland within a converted try.

Their hopes of a comeback took a hit on 65 minutes when loosehead Jeremy Loughman was sin-binned following another strong Welsh scrum.

And while Byrne tried to unlock the home defence with some clever kicks in behind, Wales were able to repel Ireland’s best attempts and hold on.

Scorers for Wales

Try: Watkin

Conversion: Evans

Penalties: Evans (4)

Scorers for Ireland

Penalties: Byrne (4)

Wales U20s

15. Joe Gage (Ospreys)
14. Joshua Adams (Scarlets)
13. Owen Watkin (Ospreys)
12. Garyn Smith (Blues)
11. Elis Wyn-Benham (Blues)
10. Jarrod Evans (Blues)
9. Tom Williams (Blues)

1. Luke Garrett (Dragons)
2. Ryan Elias (Scarlets)
3. Dillon Lewis (Blues)
4. Joe Davies (Dragons)
5. Rory Thornton (capt, Ospreys)
6. Harrison Keddie (Dragons)
7. Ollie Griffiths (Dragons)
8. Jon Fox (Ospreys)

Replacements:

16. Liam Belcher (Blues)
17. Keagan Bale (Dragons)
18. Alex Jeffries (Dragons)
19. Adam Beard (Ospreys)
20. Jordan Viggers (Blues)
21. Kieran Hardy (Scarlets)
22. Daniel Jones (Scarlets)
23. Barney Nightingale (Dragons)

Ireland U20s

15. Billy Dardis (UCD/ Leinster)
14. Ciaran Gaffney (Galwegians/Connacht)
13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)
12. Sam Arnold (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
11. Stephen Fitzgerald (Shannon/Munster)
10. Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster)
9. Nick McCarthy (UCD/Leinster) (captain)

1. Jeremy Loughman (UCD/Leinster)
2. Zack McCall (QUB/Ulster)
3. Oisin Heffernan (Terenure/Leinster)
4. Cian Romaine (Buccaneers/Connacht)
5. Josh Murphy (UCD/Leinster)
6. Nick Timoney (St. Mary’s/Leinster)
7. Conor Oliver (St. Mary’s/ Leinster)
8. Lorcan Dow (QUB/Ulster)

Replacements:

16. Adam McBurney (Ballymena/Ulster)
17. Andrew Porter (UCD/ Leinster)
18. Conan O’Donnell (Sligo/NUIG/Connacht)
19. David O’Connor (St. Mary’s/Leinster)
20. Stephen McVeigh (Buccaneers/Connacht)
21. Conor Young (QUB/Ulster)
22. Joey Carbery (UCD/Leinster)
23. Jacob Stockdale (QUB/Ulster)

If Wales offload tomorrow like their U20s just did, the Irish Grand Slam dream is dead

11 images as Ireland finalise preparations at the Captain’s Run in the Millennium Stadium