Universities beaten in Dublin

Two late tries condemned the English Universities side to a 21-10 defeat against their Irish counterparts in Dublin.

The visitors led 10-7 thanks to a try from Nottingham lock Mark Siddons with Worcester fly-half Rob Cooke.

But despite dominating in the set-pieces - where St Mary's hooker Jon Moyce and Bristol's James Lumby impressed - they were beaten by two converted tries inside the final 10 minutes.

"We destroyed them in the scrum in particular and it was a good all-round performance from a young side against much more experienced opponents," said England manager Keith Green.

The Universities also handed a debut to Dale Taylor, sitting in a Durham library when called-up yesterday afternoon.

"Within eight hours he was on the tarmac in Dublin and played the second half of the game after Rob Cooke picked up a knock," said Green. "He did fantastically well in the time he was on the pitch."

The Universities side is drawn from players taking part in this season's BUSA Championships and go on to play Wales next month before facing the Combined Services Under-21s at Twickenham.

England Universities: Giles Pryor (Loughborough), Scott Armstrong (Leeds Met), Liam Lonnergan (St Mary’s), Phil Ellis (Hertfordshire), Hamish Smales (Exeter), Rob Cooke (Worcester), Rob Springall (Nottingham), Dan Murphy (St Mary's), Jon Moyce (St Mary’s), Jamie Pearson (Birmingham), Ben Griffiths (Loughborough), Mark Siddons (Nottingham), Gary Holmes (Bath), Tom Yellowlees (Loughborough), James Lumby (Bristol, captain).

Replacements: Harry Collins (Hartpury College), Tim Pickard (Worcester), Dave Clements (Loughborough), Harry Rowland (St Mary’s), Rory Wood (Hertfordshire), Dale Taylor (Durham), James Greenwood (Bristol).

ends