The Irish have made mates with history this weekend. Just a day after Ireland won Grand Slam in Dublin, their U20 side matched the trick, claiming their second age-grade Grand Slam in two years, with a 36-24 win over England.

As rugby data company Opta explains, this makes Ireland the first nation to win Grand Slams in the men’s and U20s competition in the same year. With the Women’s Six Nations fixtures kicking off with the Irish in Wales, no pressure…

But as Captain Gus McCarthy said of this win for the U20s: “It’s an amazing feeling, especially here at Musgrave Park, it just makes it extra special. The crowd here are immense, the support means so much. We are so grateful.”

How the U20s Irish Grand Slam was won

It all started with a 44-27 win over Wales.

France ran them very close at Musgrave Park, with the hosts winning 33-31 – exciting fly-half Sam Prendergast the hero with a late penalty. It was one of four, plus three conversions.

It was another 44-27 win away in Round Three, this time against Italy.

In the penultimate round the Irish obliterated Scotland U20 82-7, in Scotland.

And in the last round, a 36-24 win at Musgrave clinched the title. There was another red card to debate – we had the Freddie Steward red card, and in this match Monty Bradbury saw red. This time it was for a tackle that upended Henry McErlean.

But Ireland got the historic result.

After the match, two-try No 8 Brian Gleeson said: “We knew we had to start strong because England are such a great side.

“We always talk about putting our foot on their throat, being relentless so I feel like we did that at times and that’s why we came out of it.”

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