
Ireland U20s enter play-offs after crushing New Zealand defeat
Ireland's Under-20 side will now enter the play-off stream at the World Cup in Italy following a bruising 69-22 loss to New Zealand to wrap up their pool stage.
Having lost to hosts Italy in their second game in Pool C, Neil Doak's side were always facing an uphill task to make it through to the semi-finals of the tournament – and so it proved in Calvisano.
The opening minutes suggested a shock could be on the cards at the Stadio San Michele as Ireland raced into a 12-0 lead - Oisín Minogue with a fantastic bit of skill to chip the ball over Will Cole to finish before Daniel Green dotted down, Tom Wood with a conversion from the first of those two tries.
Wood would add a penalty 20 minutes in to respond to Mosese Bason's opening try for the Kiwis, but New Zealand would take over from there to lead 31-15 at the break with Xavier Treacy, Cooper Roberts, Cole and Dylan Pledger all going over.
The New Zealand tries would continue to flow on the restart, Pledger, Shaun Kempton and Maloni Kunawave all eventually finishing with a brace, with Ireland striking late through Billy Bohan, Sam Wisniewski with the successful conversion.
Bohan would be sent off minutes later for an illegal clearout.
Ireland now go into to a ninth place play-off with Scotland on Monday while New Zealand have a semi-final with France to look forward to with Argentina and South Africa meeting in the other semi-final.
New Zealand: R Simpson; F Vaenuku, C Roberts (J Cameron 54), J Wiseman, M Kunawave; W Cole (S Solomon 60-71), D Pledger (J Tamati 50); S Uamaki Pole (I Time 52), M Letiu (S Kempton 45), R Faleafa (D Johnston 52); X Treacy, J Sa (A Vakasiuola 46); F McLeod, C Woodley, M Bason (M Fale 45).
Ireland: D Green (G O'Leary Kareem 61); C Molony, C Mangan, J Scott, D Moloney; T Wood (S Wisniewski 45), W Wootton (C Logan 56); A Usanov (B Bohan 49), H Walker, A Mullan (T McAllister 49); C Kennelly, B Corrigan (D Walsh 48); E McCarthy, O Minogue (L McLaughlin 61), L Murphy (B Power 52).

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Irish Daily Mirror
8 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Martin McHugh: All-Ireland final nerves are way worse as a dad than as a player
PART ONE: IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER Once Donegal's 1992 All-Ireland semi-final ended, the players came back home and the fans came back to Earth. Suddenly everyday concerns mixed with an even bigger worry: where would they source a ticket? For Jim and Kathleen McHugh, they had an answer to that second problem but not the first. Read more: Kerry's summer sensation: 'He's the biggest competitor I ever came across' Read more: 'I did see a job for Wexford going…', but 1994 World Cup star isn't ready to end his India adventure just yet With two sons on the Donegal team, they had options: Upper Stand or Lower? Hogan or Cusack? But going to Croke Park left another issue unsolved. Who would milk the cows on their farm? It's unlikely if any of Dublin's players were troubled by this kind of issue but if you are from a rural background, you'd understand the scale of the predicament. Ordinarily, a neighbour would help out. Except this time just about everyone in Kilcar wanted to migrate to Dublin for the day. 'The GAA has been going since 1884,' says Martin McHugh, Donegal's talisman on that All-Ireland winning side. 'And here we were, 108 years later, reaching our first All-Ireland. To say it was a big deal is an understatement. It was huge.' All the more so because no one gave them a chance. 'A funny thing happened on the day of our All-Ireland semi-final,' McHugh says. 'Our performance was so bad that the rumour was the Dublin players left before the final whistle. 'Who knows if that is true or not but it fed into the narrative that they were raging hot favourites and we were just there to make up the numbers.' The reality was different. A decade earlier, Donegal had won an Under 21 All-Ireland with seven graduates who'd help the county win just their third Ulster championship a year later. Then in 1987 another crop came along to collect Donegal's second Under 21 All-Ireland. 'In '92, we'd a good balance between young and old. In hindsight, we actually should have won more than we did,' says McHugh, 'because we were better than we thought. 'When we asked Dublin questions, they didn't have answers.' If there was any doubt in his head about how big a deal winning that first All-Ireland was, all Martin McHugh had to do was look at the expression on his parents' faces. Jim and Kathleen had met in London after emigrating in the 1950s. Work then took them to Leicester until the death of an uncle led to Jim getting the call to come home and take care of the farm. McHugh says: 'You know growing up, it was tough. But it was tough for everyone. Everybody around us had little but we all had enough, that kind of way. 'My parents wouldn't have gone to too many of our matches (for Donegal). They wouldn't have had the time because there was always stuff to get done on the farm. So getting down to Dublin for the final, that was a big deal.' So was winning. He got to see his parents an hour after the final whistle. Not many words were said because that generation didn't verbalise their feelings the way people are more at ease at doing so now. And yet they didn't need to. 'You just know,' McHugh says. 'Their faces, ah jeepers, the pride in them. You could see it meant the world to them. Two boys on the side. Daddy had won a County title with Killybegs years and years ago (in 1952). He loved his football and bringing the cup home to Kilcar was unforgettable. 'I'll never forget old people coming up to us. 'Thank you,' they'd say. 'We never thought we'd live to see this day… a Kilcar man in an All-Ireland.' They were the first McHughs to do so. But not the last. Donegal's Ryan McHugh credits Donegal's revival to Michael Murphy and Jim McGuinness' return. (Image: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne) PART TWO: … AND OF THE SON Martin McHugh was in the press box of the Hogan Stand. Martin McHugh was also in hell. His son, Mark, was on the Donegal team contesting the 2012 All-Ireland final. And it brought things back. 'As a player, I was grand in terms of the nerves,' he says. 'But as a dad, it was way worse. 'You think about it from a totally different perspective. All you really want is that the game ends without any one player making a costly mistake. 'Looking back, Mark had a very good game that day. 'But I won't pretend it isn't tough. I had to take a couple of valium that day to calm myself.' Watching your son in an All-Ireland stirred many memories. The car journeys to training; the anxiety watching them grow through challenges and setbacks; the day he was born; the day he was brought home; the day you realised he loved the game as much as you did. Then there was the fear. What if the team loses because of an error? What if Mark makes that mistake? But mixed with the fear is the pride in seeing your child representing your county in your sport's biggest day. 'You wouldn't change it for the world,' says Martin. But by 2014 there would be change. Mark may not have started that day but Ryan, his younger brother, did - continuing the McHugh lineage. PART THREE: JIMMY'S WINNING MATCHES Two names are synonymous with Donegal's All-Ireland final history: McHugh and McGuinness. The first has supplied five different members of the one family through the county's four final appearances: Martin, James (1992), Mark (2012), Ryan (2014 and 2025) and Eoin (2025). Yet even their contribution has been trumped by one man, Donegal's manager, Jim McGuinness. 'Jim always had a presence, even when he was younger. When he walked into a room, you could sense that,' says Martin McHugh of a person he has seen grow from young tyro on the 1992 panel to messianic leader. 'He is an unbelievable speaker, the sort of person you would walk through a brick wall for. 'We have so much to be thankful for because after 1992 we all thought we would only win one All-Ireland in our lifetimes. 'When he took over the team in 2011, we were nowhere. Then a year later we won an All-Ireland. He has since taken us to our third and fourth finals. When you analyse it, it is a serious achievement, Donegal making four All-Irelands in history, Jim managing us to three of those. 'When I was growing up, it was Dublin and Kerry who were always appearing in finals. Now our name is in the mix. Jeepers, that makes me proud.' Donegal manager Jim McGuinness after the 2014 final PART FOUR: DONEGAL There is no train service to Donegal. No motorway either. The airport is over an hour away from the southern edge of the county where the McHughs live. Emigration was a trauma in the 1950s, The Troubles an even greater wound twenty years later. 'We were deemed to be part of it,' McHugh reckons. 'The old story was that for every ten American tourists who landed into Dublin Airport, nine went south, and the tenth who went north only went there to visit family. 'So, we never received the same amount of tourist trade as other counties on the western seaboard. As a place, Donegal was not commercialised and we are the better for it in many respects. 'You see, we are very proud of our county. We are a likeable sort; we enjoy the craic and have produced some unbelievable people over the years' Packie Bonner, Seamus Coleman, Shay Given. "Daniel O'Donnell and Paul McGinley - whose father is a Donegalman - are two of our biggest ambassadors. 'Everybody rows in behind everybody here. Like, we don't reach too many All-Ireland finals. So it is great for football in the county that we are back in one. For me, it means an awful lot, not just because I have a son on the side but as a football man, as a Donegal man, it's just magical.' He's a grandfather now. Noah, Mark's son, is old enough to understand the value of haggling for a ticket. 'Grandad, I want to see David Clifford play.' McHugh laughed at that one and then he paused to think. His father, a county medal winner; his father in law, Padin O'Donnell, an understated but outstanding full back. "When I started playing, he (his father in law) couldn't watch the matches because of nerves. He'd go out the back of the main stand for a smoke.' Now the circle of life has turned. He is the anxious one now, watching over his boy, Ryan, hoping he joins Mark, James and himself as an All-Ireland winner. 'If you win it, it's unbelievable and if you lose, you have to be there for them, to get in behind them and support them because the few days after will be tough.' And yet when you remind him that tomorrow another McHugh will be on the starting team for Donegal in an All-Ireland final with his club name, Kilcar, in brackets next to that name in the match programme, you can sense what it means. Just like in 1992, when he saw Jim and Kathleen, there are no words. But his face tells you precisely what this means. Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .


RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Enya Breen: Eight-year wait makes World Cup special
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The Irish Sun
11 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
History-making Lioness Ella Toone star for biggest stage now she's ready to deliver for England again in Euro 2025 final
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