It wasn’t to be for the Ireland U20s in Italy as, despite racing to an early lead, the power and depth of the ‘Baby Blacks’ shone through and they ran riot, beating Ireland 69-22.

It wasn’t the result Neil Doak’s side needed in their fight for the semi-finals, and it means that they are now in the ninth-place bracket in the World Rugby U20s Championships.

There was plenty of hope heading into the game and those hopes were backed up when, after just six minutes, Ireland were already 12-0 up, with their first score coming in sensational fashion.

Oisin Minogue scores a try Pic:Massimiliano Carnabuci/Sportsfile

With just over a minute on the clock, Irish fly-half Tom Wood (son of Keith) slotted through a delicate grubber kick behind the Kiwi defence heading towards flanker and fellow Munster man Oisín Minogue.

Minogue, a flanker by trade, then proceeded to pull off an immense piece of skill by flicking the ball over the New Zealand fullback before regathering it and scoring.

Minogue comes from great Munster rugby stock. A Shannon RFC man, Minogue is the son of former Ireland International Rosie Foley and the nephew of former Munster captain and Head Coach, the late great Anthony ‘Axel’ Foley.

Foley played over 200 times for Munster as well as earning 62 caps for Ireland as he was part of the famous Munster side that won two Heineken Cups in 2006 and 2008. He then took up coaching and was the Head Coach for Munster from 2014 until his untimely passing in 2016.

Former Munster head coach Anthony Foley Pic: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE

The fast start continued just minutes later when fullback Daniel Green was able to cross over after Minogue made another monstrous break through the Kiwi midfield as Ireland were now 12-0 up after just six minutes.

However, that was as good as it got for Ireland as the Kiwis got back into their groove. They got their first try through number 8 Mosese Bason after just 10 minutes and the floodgates opened from there as it was already 31-15 at halftime to the Kiwis.

With Ireland now chasing the game it was only going to go one of two ways, Ireland make a miraculous comeback or New Zealand run riot. The latter was to happen, unfortunately for Ireland, as the ‘Baby Blacks’ ran in six second half tries while Ireland’s Billy Bohan received a red card for foul play.

Ireland U20s weren’t successful in reaching the semi-finals but that doesn’t mean their tournament is over.

They now go into the ninth-place bracket where they’ll first face Scotland on Monday July 14 and, if they win, they’ll face the winner of Georgia and Spain for ninth-place, which will go a long way for seeding in next year’s Championship.