Wales U18 down Six Nations hosts

Anotehr one! James Currie crosses for England

Wales Under-18 put hosts Ireland to the sword in front of a large crowd at Musgrave Park on Tuesday night, in the opening round of the Six nations festival in Cork.

Scotland edged to a narrow 10-8 win over France, while England ran riot over Italy, scoring 12 tries in a 78-8 win.

In front of around 2,500 people, Welsh kicker Matthew Jarvis scored 20 points for his team as they put in a fine performance in their opening game.

Wales got off to a good start as breaks from centre Ben John and Ieuan Coombes put Ireland under pressure out wide and those early inroads were turned into points when Matthew Jarvis put over a simple early penalty.

It got better for the visitors when scrum-half Rhys Downes finished off a fine move of free flowing rugby to touch down minutes later and a touch-line convert from Jarvis put Ireland on the back foot.

Noel Reid replied for Ireland with a well struck long-range penalty on the 20 minute mark to get his side back in the game.

Jarvis kicked his third and fourth successful shots with two more penalty efforts shortly after to push out his side's lead.

Wales then failed to deal with a neat kick from Diarmaid McCarthy and they conceded a penalty in front of the posts which Reid easily put over and it left Ireland trailing 16-6 at half time.

Matthew Jarvis continued his perfect kicking game when he knocked over another effort and Wales piled on the pressure with some great angles of running and strong breaks as Jarvis added another to push the lead out to 22-6.

Ireland were forced into making some hard tackles as Wales looked for further scores although Irish fullback Noel Reid was lively in attack and Luke Marshall also kept his side going forward.

Ireland had a last ditch effort to score a late try but Reid was pushed into touch just before the line.

The Scorers:

For Wales:

Try: Downes

Con: Jarvis

Pens: Jarvis 6

For Ireland:

Pens: Reid 2

Wales: 15 James Loxton, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Ben John, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Ieuan Coombes, 10 Matthew Jarvis, 9 Rhys Downes, 8 James Thomas, 7 Rhys Jenkins, 6 Dave Francis, 5 Joel Galley, 4 Tom Crandon, 3 Stewart Maguire, 2 Rhys Williams (c), 1 Daniel Watchurst.

Replacements: James King, Lloyd Peers, Morgan Allen, Liam Powell, Chris Lewis Pratt, Gareth Jenkins, Ceri Davies, James McKinney, James Davies, Gareth Davies

Ireland: 15 Noel Reid, 14 Craig O'Hanlon, 13 Michael Allen, 12 Diarmuid McCarthy, 11 Mark Atkinson, 10 Luke Marshall, 9 David O'Driscoll, 8 David O'Callaghan, 7 Brian O'Hara (c), 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Ben Marshall, 4 Brian Hayes, 3 Jack O'Connell, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Denis Buckley.

Replacements: Risteard Byrne, Martin Moore, Jason Bloomfield, Brian Cagney, Patrick Butler, Michael Kelleher, Richard Bent, James KcKinney, Gavin Nugent.

Referee: Rowan Kitt (England)

Scotland edged out France in a tough game at Cork Institute of Technology as they won their opening clash of the U18 Six Nations Festival 10-8.

After a tense first half with both sides rock solid in defence, Scotland prop Craig Owenson crashed over right before the turnaround to give his side the advantage as Alex Blair added the extras.

It was just reward for Scotland who had pressed hard in search of a score in the opening forty minutes.

Blair knocked over a penalty after the break to push the lead out for the Scots but France were threatening in attack and looked dangerous with ball in hand.

Their efforts were rewarded when Kevin LeGuen crashed over and then Amany Geneste added a penalty to ensure a tense final quarter but Scotland held out to secure the win.

French coach Vincent Manta said his side didn't take the chances they had in the game.

"We didn't have a lot of time together before this competition so it has been difficult to prepare. We had chances at times during the match but the players didn't see them and we couldn't convert them," he said.

Scotland assistant coach Graham Marshall added that his side could have had the game sewn up long before the final whistle.

"We were pleased with our first half performance though we didn't convert as many chances as we had. However we were disappointed with the second half because we made a lot of mistakes and let France right back into it."

The scorers:

For France:

Try: LeGuen

Pen: Geneste

For Scotland:

Try: Owenson

Con: Blair

Pen: Blair

France: 15 Antoine Erbani, 14 Gilles Arnaudies, 13 Julien Petrod, 12 Adrien Alazard, 11 Florent Brunet, 10 Adrein Gach, 9 Joris Archimbeau, 8 Sebastian Mazet, 7 Sullivan Guyon, 6 Victor Muret, 5 Paul Oliver, 4 Kevin Legeun, 3 Mickael Ivaldi (c), 2 Anthony Maury, 1 David Tarroque.

Replacements: Amaury Geneste, Adrien Gach, Kevin Leguen, Paul Oliver, Hugo Chevalier, Antony Maury, Florent Brunet.

Scotland: 15 Sam Hughes, 14 Max Learmonth, 13 Michael Tait, 12 Alec Dunbar, 11 Jamie Harris, 10 Alex Blair, 9 Russell Weir, 8 Jason Hill, 7 Ross Sutherland, 6 Stuart McInally (c), 5 Robert Harley, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Andrew Fraser, 2 Mungo Strachan, 1 Craig Owenson.

Replacements: Alex Black, Luke Pettie, Michael Maltman, Callum Connor.

Referee: Stefano Pennč (Italy)

England got their U18 Six Nations Festival campaign off to a flying start at Temple Hill on Tuesday evening as they ran in 12 tries past Italy in their opening game, in a 78-8 win.

England were on the scoresheet after just two minutes when Jacob Rowan touched down following an excellent break from impressive inside centre Tom Homer.

A conversion from Freddie Burns set the scene for what was to follow as England displayed some excellent offloading and handling skills to run in further tries from winger Sam Smith and David Blackwell, Christian Wade and James Currie in the opening half.

Italy got themselves on the scoresheet shortly before half time when scrum half Edoardo Gori set up Nicola Corbante. Michele Mortali added a penalty as the Italians put some good phases together but England resumed their advantage after the break when Smith scored immediately after the whistle.

From there they showed impressive attacking and handling skills the tries flowed with coach Alex Sanderson emptying his bench. The pick of the scores came from substitute Rory Clegg who was set up by captain Tom Cassons as well as some good finishing from replacement Tom Catterick.

Sanderson was delighted with the big win on the opening day.

"You never expect such a big score-line but it was by no means an easy game and the boys have come off battered and tired. All credit to Italy because they worked very hard and knocked us back when they good but we ran some excellent lines and the score reflected that," he said.

The scorers:

For England:

Tries: Rowan, Smith 2, Blackwell, Wade, Currie, Clegg, Catterick, Gray, Harrison, Hurrell, Vunipola

Cons: Burns 6, Clegg 3

For Italy:

Try: Corbante

Pen: Martoli

England: 15 Jack Wallace, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Tom Casson (c), 12 Tom Homer, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Rob Milligan, 7 Joe Barker, 6 Jacob Rowan, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Joe Quinn, 3 James Currie, 2 David Blackwell, 1 Lee Imiolek.

Replacements: Tom Catterick, Andy Forsyth, Joe Trayfoot, Tom Holmes, Gray, Will Hurrell, Mako Vunipola, Rory Clegg, Jordi Pasqualin.

Italy: 15 Marcello Paglia, 14 Michele Mortali, 13 Costantino Ricciardi, 12 Giovanbattista Venditti, 11 Giovanno Frapporti, 10 Fillippo Michelini, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Gabriele Cicchinelli, 7 Fillppo Ferrarini, 6 Marco Barbino, 5 Paolo Stinchello, 4 Daniele Fratalochhi, 3 Zamparo Matteo, 2 Enrico Lioineri, 1 Nicola Corbanese.

Replacements: Alberto Chillon, Nicola Belardo, Tommaso Bergonzini, Antonio Denti.

Referee: Steve Edwards (WRU)