Brace of tries: Ireland's Craig Gilroy
Ireland could only warm up for their forthcoming tour of New Zealand with a 29-28 defeat at the hands of the Barbarians at Kingsholm.
The Irish, deprived of Leinster players resting after their RaboDirect PRO12 final defeat, scored four tries like their opponents but were undone by Felipe Contepomi's late penalty kick.
The Barbarians took a 10th-minute lead when home favourite Mike Tindall made a half break and from the ensuing ruck, Paul Sackey sent over former Gloucester star Iain Balshaw for a try that Contepomi converted.
But Ireland responded and from their first incursion into the Barbarians 22, Craig Gilroy finished strongly for the try which captain Ronan O'Gara converted to tie up the scores.
Benetton Treviso lock Cornelius van Zyl crossed to put the invitation side back in front but back came Ireland when Gilroy produced a stunning burst down the right flank to set up Keith Earls, O'Gara adding the extras.
Sackey caught Ireland's defence napping and raced away for the try Contepomi converted shortly before the half-hour but five minutes after the restart O'Gara was on target again after Simon Zebo touched down to edge Ireland back ahead.
Tindall crashed through the Irish defence to the delight of the Gloucester crowd, before Earls eased through at the other end to keep the game in the balance.
But with three minutes remaining, Barbarians were awarded a penalty in the Irish 22 and for the first time in the match, a kick at goal was chosen, Contepomi the match-winner.
The scorers:
For Barbarians:
Tries: Balshaw, Van Zyl, Sackey, Tindall
Cons: Contepomi 3
Pen: Contepomi
For Ireland:
Tries: Earls, Gilroy 2, Zebo
Cons: O'Gara 4
Barbarians: 15 Cedric Heymans, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Raphael Lakafia, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Mamuka Gorgodze, 5 Cornelius van Zyl, 4 Mick O'Driscoll (c), 3 John Afoa, 2 Benoit August, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Pelu Taele, 19 Akapusi Qera, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isa Nacewa.
Ireland: 15 Keith Earls, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ronan O'Gara (c), 9 Conor Murray, 8 Peter O'Mahony, 7 Chris Henry, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Rory Best, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 James Coughlan, 20 Paul Marshall, 21 Nevin Spence, 22 Andrew Trimble.
Referee: Jérôme Garces (France)
Comments
stag says...
gents, no need to get too excited about a 1 point defeat in a warmup game. There were 3 frontliners in the starting 15. Just proves that those calling for wholesale new blood were premature to say the least.
Posted 09:48 30th May 2012
curates_egg says...
Gilroy confirming his form and confirming that he is a much better prospect than Zebo. Would Kidney start him ahead of Zebo? Not in a million years; he's not from Munster.
Posted 09:41 30th May 2012
Melkiwi says...
Not looking good for ireland. But hey rugby is the winner at the end of the day lol
Posted 09:39 30th May 2012
blametheref says...
No excuses here for the Ireland XV or Kidney, they cannot say they haven't played together for a long time or with each other before, as the Barbarians can say that too.
The real difficulty with all this is that most of the Ireland XV are trying to impress to get on the Irish team and some with more experience are trying to prove that they should be considered...To me it shows that some players selected are simply not internationals and some never will be; and more worryingly it shows that embedded in the Ireland diaspora or psyche there is a collective lack of ruthlessness or spirit to have gone on that pitch with a true collective killer instinct to win at all costs...Something is clearly wrong at Ireland HQ and most Irish supporters know what a large chunk of that problem is.
There was an opportunity here to try out or request one or two things when this match was organized, one for example, would have been to ask the Barbarians to play, instead of retiree Mick O' Driscoll, to play an up and coming Irish 2nd row...the other one most of us would have been interested in would have been to see James Downey play at 12 for the Barbarians...
With Bowe, Ross, Ferris and possibly O' Connell out of the tour to New Zealand, these key omissions alone are very serious which would be like New Zealand missing McCaw, Dagg, Woodcock and Whitelock, and whether New Zealanders agree or not, if these players were missing New Zealand would be an easier prospect, like Ireland now will be to an even greater extent, as we know NZ have great strength in depth.
A huge part of Ireland's "problem" is coming home to roost and it's the old adage that "it's harder to be dropped from the Irish team than it is to get on to it!"...Selecting new players against The Barbarians doesn't really count the same as being selected for "Ireland" in a full international...
Posted 09:28 30th May 2012
sheridan says...
Gilroy has to go!
Posted 09:08 30th May 2012
paddy91317 says...
that was an imitation Ireland side relax the lot of ye's at least 8 players from Leinster will join the starting 15 maybe more and that was the first time they played together where as the ba ba's played last week. HOW DID FITZPATRICK AT TIGHTHEAD GO????????????? this could be his chance to step up in the world ha
Posted 09:00 30th May 2012
Cabhan says...
Probably only 3 players out of this side will be in the starting 15 for the first test in NZ. It was as much a scratch Irish side as the Barbarians one, so you couldn't read too much into the result.
Swiwi, you're right, injuries to some of Ireland's best players might have taken away any possibility of putting it up to NZ. If they don't run them close the first test, the other 2 could get really embarassing. !
Posted 08:57 30th May 2012
jamesliveinhope says...
@ulrich - I wouldn't get too arrogant about it, I recognise 5 of the Irish side with only about 3 as regular first teamers. England took to the field with pretty well the first team minus Tigers/Quins players.
Posted 08:41 30th May 2012
jontheref says...
Tough ask for Ireland, missing the Leinster guys.
But, see how Wales do on saturday, missing the first 15, who will have left, if not arrived in Australia.
It was also an away game for Ireland!
:-)
Posted 08:24 30th May 2012
pierredelot1 says...
Just another money earning match at the end of a long hard season, prior to going to NZ for a test series. Of no importance whatsoever.
Posted 08:17 30th May 2012
rockman says...
Fine proof that 121 caps does not make you a good captain. It shows how little interest Kidney had in the game by having O'Gara Captain.
Posted 07:42 30th May 2012
swiwi says...
Sigh...it really is hard to get excited about Ireland's chances downunder. Predictably Kidney remains "upbeat despite defeat". I am looking more forward to seeing how any new caps for the All Blacks go, especially as any chance Ireland would seem to have, has been ruined with injuries to Ferris, Bowe etc
Posted 07:03 30th May 2012
sukkadoits says...
I can't wait to see Zebo in NZ, excitement machine. I wish we could see more of manbeast Gorgodze down here too... the Bay of Plenty would love to have him for 3 months of ITM cup, call me Mamuka, i'll hook it up!
Posted 06:41 30th May 2012
Ulrich says...
So then England's second string wasn't bad at all.
Posted 06:05 30th May 2012
Smash40 says...
Out of curiosity, how long is it since Ireland played as a team? Were there new combinations in this game?
Posted 05:00 30th May 2012
hobo says...
looks like the All Blacks are in for some training runs next month
Posted 02:51 30th May 2012
Alaskarugby says...
Yes! Love to see the Barbarians win.
Posted 02:05 30th May 2012
brands says...
ouch! just as I suspected, New Zealand is going to be a painfull trip!!
Posted 01:36 30th May 2012
Tesh says...
How did balshaw score without being in the 22 in the 10th minute? Were there pre match and early match injuries?
Posted 00:42 30th May 2012
olearyc5 says...
Get rid of Kidney now.
On the plus side. Tries for Gilroy and Zebo. Looks good for the future.
Posted 00:07 30th May 2012