England extended their winning run in the Under-20s Six Nations with a 24-15 triumph over Ireland in Cardiff on Thursday evening.
Captained again by Leicester Tigers scrum-half Jack Van Poortvliet, England made it three wins in three games following previous victories over France and Scotland.
They led with an early try from hooker Sam Riley but only pulled clear with back-to-back scores from Ewan Richards, playing at blindside flanker, in the third quarter which stretched the lead to 17-3.
Having to defend with a man short after losing No8 Nahum Merigan to a yellow card, England were then forced back over their own tryline as Irish lock Alex Soroka finished a lineout drive and the conversion from scrum-half Nathan Doak trimmed the gap to seven points.
Another score from Riley, driving over from a maul in the left-hand corner, gave England a bonus point and Fin Smith’s conversion pushed the gap out to a decisive 14 points.
Ireland responded with a try for replacement prop Mark Donnelly but missed out on a losing bonus point.
Leicester Tigers hooker Archie Vanes was among the unused replacements on the England bench.
