WATCH: 14-Man Ireland Run Out Of Steam Against Rampant Aussies

Ireland have lost 45-17 to Australia in the World Rugby U20 Championship in Santa Fe this afternoon in what was a very tough and tense encounter.

It was Australia who started the brighter of the two sides with outhalf Will Harrison kicking the first penalty of the game after five minutes. Huge defensive efforts from both sides then ensued with neither willing to give the other an inch. The physicality eventually boiled over when Australian outside centre Semsi Tupou receive a yellow card for his high tackle on John Hodnett.

Watch the full highlights below:

More drama unfolded just five minutes later when Ireland lock Ryan Baird saw a red card for his high challenge on Will Harrison saw Ireland reduced to 14 men after just 19 minutes of play. Harrison missed his resulting penalty however Australia scored the opening try of the game a few minutes later when Sione Tui touching down in the corner.

Harrison added the extras with the boot which put the Junior Wallabies 10-0 ahead, putting serious pressure on Noel McNamara’s side. However, Irelands “never say die” attitude came up trumps when Munster’s Craig Casey showed some class to spin off the back on an Ireland scrum to get over the line. The decision to whether Casey grounded the ball or not was one of contention and while the TMO couldn’t confirm whether he had indeed grounded the ball, the referee’s on-field decision to award the try stood, Flannery, added the extras and Ireland were back in the game.

10-7 the score at half-time.

As the second half got going, Ireland continued on from where they left off at the end of the second half with all the momentum. Noel McNamara’s side found themselves camped on the Australian 22 for the first 10 minutes of the half as well as 86% of possession. Unfortunately, Ireland failed to take any points from that position and momentum was immediately handed back to the Junior Wallabies.

A reversed penalty for over celebrating gave Ireland three points to add to the scoreboard and then some excellent pace from Ulster centre Stewart Moore saw him score a try and substitute Ben Healy converted to put Ireland 17-10 in front for the first time in the game.

But Australia bounced back immediately and fullback Lucas scored a try in the 62nd minute, and not long after winger Mark Nawwaqanitawase touched down to put Australia 24-17 ahead. Just minutes after their second try, Nick Frost claimed the restart and ran all of 60-metres for Australia’s third try in five minutes to kill the game.

Momentum clearly swung in the direction of the Junior Wallabies in the later stages of the game as Ireland seemed to become tired, feeling the effects of losing a man early in the match had taken its toll. As fulltime approached, it was outhalf Will Harrison who would convert his own try and split the Irish defence open.

The final blow for Ireland came when Nick Frost scored his second try of the game and Australia’s 6th in total.

Fulltime score: Australia 47 – 17 Ireland

Ireland will need to take all 5 points on offer when they play Italy on June 12th and hope that England does them a favour by beating Australia.