London Irish U18s defeat Bath at Hazelwood

London Irish U18s made it three wins for four outings in the Premiership Rugby U18 league with a 29-17 victory against Bath U18s at Hazelwood this afternoon.

Irish crossed for five tries in total, two in the first half scored by Marcus Rhodes and Mikey Summerfield and three second half scores from Ethan Pawadyira, Jesper Hartikainen and Ben Fitzgerald

The Exiles played into a very strong first half breeze, keeping possession well, choosing to run the ball instead of kicking into the wind.

Bath U18s led 12-10 at the break, only a slender lead with the wind at their backs. Back rower Marcus Rhodes and loose head prop Mikey Summerfield the scorers.

The second half saw Irish dominate the kicking battler. Rory Morgan and Monty Bradbury pinning the corners to give their side the territory. Ethan Pawadyira scored a strong pick and go try midway through the first half. Jesper Hartikainen then crossed before Ben Fitzgerald finished off a brilliant team try by dotting down under the posts.

Academy Manager Patrick O’Grady commended the squad for a brilliant defensive display, particularly in the second half. “I thought we were particularly dominant and happy with the teams all round performance.”

Next up for the Exiles is a trip to the West Country where they take on Bristol on 18 January.

Scorers: London Irish: Tries: Rhodes (6), Summerfield (33), Pawadyira (53), Hartikainen (56), Fitzgerald (60); Conversions: Bradbury (57, 60)

London Irish U18s:

15 Ben Fitzgerald, 14 Finlay Brown, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Niall McGann, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Monty Bradbury, 9 Rory Morgan, 1 Mikey Summerfield, 2 Joe Vajner ©, 3 Joe Keohane, 4 Josh Taylor, 5 Sam Harding, 6 Lucas Brooke, 7 George Davis, 8 Marcus Rhodes

Replacements: 16 Rupert Reddish, 17 Alessandro Heaney, 18 Ethan Pawadyira, 19 Edwin Zaimovic, 20 Michael Mason, 21 Dan Ormond, 22 Alex Young, 23 Jesper Hartikainen