England qualify for the Student World Cup Semi-Finals
Power pays in the end as a battling Ireland side found in their second round Group match of the Student Rugby League World Cup match in Brisbane on Tuesday evening.

Defending like demons the Irish boys were only down 6-4 at the break after a defensive display which drew praise from both England coach Paul Fletcher and Ireland boss Neil Bourke.

The first try came in the 17th minute when England's man of the match, fullback Alex Clemie, touched down to end a spell of sustained pressure. Martin Ainscough missed with the conversion, but added a penalty before halftime.

Danny Shaw kept Ireland in the match with a brace of penalties.

After halftime it was a different story. The English side in general was bigger than the Irish line up and the tackling effort took it's toll on an Ireland side who also lacked a natural play maker.

Kevin Till shot in for a try seven minutes after the restart with Ainscough adding the conversion and just after the hour Ainscough touched down for a try which he converted to make the score 18-4.

And when Ireland were penalised for their markers not being square Ainscough added the penalty.

And powerhouse prop Alex Benson put the final nail in the Ireland coffin when he rumbled over the line right on the final hooter. Ainscough added the extras and although Tom Sang was sin-binned with some six minutes to go England coach Fletcher was pleased with his side.

"Ireland put us under the cosh in the first half and full credit to them. I thought our defence was superb all the way through the game.

"Our discipline was a bit wayward in the first half when we gave 11 penalties

away, whereas we only conceded two after the break. And I thought Alex Clemie and Alex Benson both had big games," said Fletcher.

Said Ireland coach Neil Bourke: "Size was the deciding factor. England were the bigger side all round and that told in the end. We came to this tournament with the aim of gaining some respect and I think we have already done that."

Fulltime: England 26 Ireland 4.

England:
Alex Clemie; Simon Edwards, Matt Mullholland, Ben Cramont, Stu McReynolds; Kevin Till, Mark Ainscough; Alan Robinson, Richard Hulme, Alex Benson, Mark Spurr, Scott Houston, Dave Norcross. Subs (all used)Tom Sang, John Nicholls, Chris Todd, Ryan Robinson, Wayne Parillon.
Tries: Clemie(17), Till (47), Ainscough (62), Benson (79).
Goals: Ainscough
5

Ireland:
Keith Armstrong; David Heathwood, Danny Shaw, James Gross, Ste Smith; Phil O'Connor, James Giblin; Dave Hudson, Phil Wood, Gareth Jones, Luke Garnett, Paul Lane, Liam Julian. Subs: (All used) Gareth Simpson, John Clarke, Chris Harwood, David Bulmer, Martin Cormack, Ben Toleman.
Goals: Shaw 2

Scoring sequence: 4-0;4-2;4-4; 6-4; 12-4; 18-4; 20-4; 26-4.

Men of the Match:
England - Alex Clemie. Threatened every time he came forward.
Ireland - Luke Garnett. Grafted his socks off to try and stem the English attack.
Referee: Raima Koti (New Zealand).
Gamebreaker: Kevin Till's try just after half time widened the gulf to such an extent the Irish were never going to close it.

Article by Chris Leak
  6 Jul 2005