Ulster Rugby vs Cheetahs

The women’s fixture on Sunday 2nd February was an equally tight affair, with the Irish team emerging 18-14 winners. Ulster’s Kathryn Dane was selected to start at scrum-half. 18-year-old winger, Beibhinn Parsons pounced to intercept a Scottish attack and ran almost the length of the field to score what was the decisive try in their victory. Ireland surged to go 13-0 up in the opening fifteen minutes through an Ellen Murphy penalty and scores from Cliodhna Moloney and Sene Naoupu, but Scotland fought back with a converted score of their own, and were pushing hard again on 66 minutes but Parsons collected a loose pass from Sarah Law from just outside Irelands five-metre line to score. A late Scotland try from Emma Wassell, converted by Lana Skeldon wasn’t enough for Scotland to snatch victory, and Ireland got their campaign off to a winning start. The following Friday, it was back to Cork for the U20s to host Wales in blustery conditions with Storm Ciara taking hold. Ulster’s David McCann led the side, and was joined by his provincial teammates, Tom Stewart, Lewis Finlay and Ben Moxham. Ireland secured their second bonus-point victory over Wales in a lively encounter. It took just a minute for Ireland to cross the line as back rower charged down a Wales clearance kick and bundled over to score. Further tries from Dan Kelly, Man- of-the-Match Lewis Finlay, Mark Hernan for his second and Andrew Smith, four conversions and a penalty from Jack Crowley ensured that Ireland are still on course to win back-to-back Grand Slams. The senior team continued the winning streak for the Irish teams in an impressive bonus-point 24-14 win over last year’s Guinness Six Nations champions, Wales. Ulster retained their contingent of Rob Herring, Iain Henderson and Jacob Stockdale in the starting line-up, with John Cooney named among the replacements. Jordan Larmour, Tadhg Furlong, Josh Van der Flier and Andrew Conway all crossed over to score, plus two Johnny Sexton conversions made it two wins from two at home in the 2020 Guinness Six Nations. Wales kept themselves in the hunt, scoring two tries, but Ireland’s impressive defence and work at the breakdown ensured the win for the hosts.

Storm Ciara’s work hadn’t finished yet, as the Ireland women endured atrocious conditions in the second half at Energia Park on Sunday 9th February to beat Wales in a 31-12 bonus-point victory. Ulster’s Kathryn Dane was once again named to start at scrum-half. Beibhinn Parsons, who crossed over with an intercept try the week before, made another fantastic score in this game. Cliodhna Moloney, Lauren Delany and Linda Djougang also dotted over, securing the four-try bonus point. Claire Keohane slotted over two very difficult conversions and Ireland were awarded a penalty try in the last minute of the game to claim victory, despite the gale-force winds and heavy rain. All three Irish representative teams go into Round 3 with an unblemished run of two from two wins and have all set themselves in a great position to win the 2020 Guinness Six Nations title.

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