For the first time since 2018 Wales U20s recorded a win over Ireland U20s at Rodney Parade, which is a stadium they haven’t played at since 2008.
A penalty try and brilliance from Steffan Emanuel, who showed his pace to score, was accompanied by the boots of both Harri Wilde and Harri Ford as Wales made it back-to-back wins as they put aside Ireland 20-12 in Newport.
That kick from Ford on 78 minutes proved vital as it meant Ireland left Wales without a losing bonus point, and on the other hand this win puts them up to second place in the U20 Six Nations table.
Speaking after a massive defensive display from his players Wales U20’s head coach, Richard Whiffin said: “What an outstanding defensive effort from the boys.
“We were under pressure territory and possession-wise. We had a really smart defensive performance as well, like you know we were good discipline-wise we didn’t bring the referee into it.
“The boys delivered the plan that we spoke around, it was absolutely biblical an hour and a half before the game. We spoke around our defence being connected if they (Ireland) wanted to move the ball they would make errors and Steff (Emanuel) pounced on one.
“The boys grew in belief. They knew with the conditions as tough as it was Ireland weren’t going to be able to put as much width on the game as they normally do.
“It was going to be a kick battle, which in the second half we certainly kicked a little bit longer and managed to gain a little bit more field position.
Ireland came into the game on the back of a away winning streak of 12-games (excluding 2021) and so far in this year’s Championship, they have only picked up a win over Scotland last timeout and lost to England at home.
“They are a good team, a well-coached team,” added Whiffin.
“You can see the connection and the cohesion that they have as a group. We felt with our connection in defence, we thought we could pressure their ball movement and force errors and that’s exactly what we did in getting those early scores.
“We then built more and more belief with the fact they weren’t going to hurt us defensively and I thought the pleasing thing was the discipline.
“Massive credit goes to the forward pack. We had some crucial scrum penalties at times where we felt we had a slight in, in the game. The forwards were smart when they called for the opportunity to go for penalties.”
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