Barbarians edge out Ireland
A second-half fightback could not prevent Ireland slipping to a 29-23 defeat to the Barbarians at Limerick's Thomond Park.
Last Updated: 04/06/10 10:38pm
A second-half fightback could not prevent Ireland slipping to a 29-23 defeat to the Barbarians at Limerick's Thomond Park.
Tries from Barbarians captain Xavier Rush, his back-row colleague George Smith and winger Cedric Heymans set up victory for the Baa Baas, with Brock James and the retiring Jean-Baptiste Elissalde kicking the rest of their points.
Former Ireland lock Malcolm O'Kelly also bowed out on a high, playing his final professional game at the home of his long-time provincial rivals Munster, who provided Alan Quinlan and Paul Warwick to the Baa Baas side.
Ireland, who trailed 21-3 at one stage, fought back either side of half-time with tries from home favourites Niall Ronan and Tony Buckley, and captain Ronan O'Gara's right boot closed the gap to six points.
But a final-quarter push produced no reward for the men in green as Philippe Saint-Andre's collection of world stars hung on to take a notable win.
Ireland were decidedly flat in the opening half before an injury-time try from Ronan gave them some much-needed spark.
Knock-ons and some fussy refereeing from Romain Poite made for a stop-start opening quarter. The Baa Baas had the territorial dominance and James landed two early penalties to nudge them ahead.
David Smith, Casey Laulala and Seru Rabeni threatened from long range, and the latter also clattered Fergus McFadden with a first-up tackle that left the Irish centre shaken.
John Muldoon gained some vital yardage for the hosts and O'Gara's 20th-minute penalty cut the gap to 6-3.
James then converted another penalty before the invitational side scored the opening try.
The scrum had been a problem area for Ireland and off a set-piece in the 22 the lively Pierre Mignoni combined with Xavier Rush to send the big New Zealander over for the opening try.
James missed the conversion and although Barbarians prop David Barnes was then sin-binned for an off-the-ball offence, the visitors increased their lead two minutes before the break.
Handling error
Another handling error saw Ireland blow an attacking chance, leaving Laulala with a 70-metre run to the line. Rob Kearney did brilliantly to make up the ground and haul the former All Black down, but the second wave allowed Smith to crash over despite Gavin Duffy's best efforts.
James converted, only for Ireland to hit back with a wonderful team try. Andrew Trimble made the initial incision and Chris Henry and Duffy continued the move before Ronan used a great angle to take O'Gara's inside ball and go behind the posts for a timely seven-pointer.
A raft of substitutions did little for the flow of the second half but Ireland were definitely on the up and O'Gara fired over the second of two penalty attempts.
But scores were much easier for the Barbarians to come by and just a minute later, James' looping pass created a two-on-one overlap which saw David Smith pass for Heymans to score in the left corner.
The Baa Baas were content to soak up the Irish pressure thereafter and their lack of adventure, at the end of a long season, was evident when Elissalde was called on to kick a close-range penalty to make it 29-13.
Helped by an experienced bench, Ireland made life tough for them in the final quarter and powerful prop Buckley fended off three defenders as he bulldozed his way to the try-line after a 60th-minute tap penalty.
O'Gara thumped the touchline conversion over and added a third penalty to get his side in contention, but the Baa Baas held out for the win.
