Barbarians scrape past Ireland by one point

Cardiff Blues winger Alex Cuthbert scored two tries as the Barbarians beat Ireland 22-21 this evening, a one-point victory for a third time in recent years.

The Baa-Baas struck the opening blow when a period of early pressure was rewarded with the Welsh winger getting over on the right inside five minutes, although Jimmy Gopperth was off target with the conversion.

Ireland then dusted themselves off and struck back through Craig Gilroy, who surged onto Eoin Reddan's inside pass for the score.

The subsequent conversion, landed by Ian Madigan, edged the Irish into a 7-5 advantage which remained until half time.

The Barbarians regained the lead early in the second half with a fine flowing attack capped off by full-back Zane Kirchner, with Gopperth converting and adding a penalty to give the Baa-Baas a 15-7 advantage.

Ireland hit back through a try scored by openside Chris Henry, back playing after suffering a mini-stroke in November.

However, the Barbarians were back in front as Cuthbert snapped up his second try and Gopperth converted via the inside of the far post.

Paddy Jackson's score gave the hosts brief hope but, as it turned, came too late to deny the Baa-Baas, meaning another one-point defeat after they had beaten Ireland 29-28 three years ago and 31-30 in 2000.