Wales Under 19 had to withstand a late desperate onslaught before hanging on grimly for a 24-20 victory against Ireland U19 at a wind-swept Cardiff Arms Park.
The sides were locked 17-17 at the break and with visiting fly half Owen O’Kane knocking over an early second half penalty, Ireland dug in.
With both sides struggling in the demanding conditions, the home side eventually claimed the lead through winger Noah Morgan who danced his way over near the corner flag midway through the second half.
Replacement fly half Steff Jac Jones landed an excellent conversion from wide out to give Wales a four-point buffer.
With Wales using the wind to their advantage in the dying stages, Ireland were forced to run from deep but found no way through the home defence.
The young men in green threw the kitchen sink at Wales in the last five minutes and eventually worked their way towards the try-line. They repeatedly tried to scramble over but were constantly rocked back with staunch defence.
Eventually, after a prolonged period stuck on their own line, Wales were able to secure a jackal penalty under their own posts to deny Ireland late reward.
Earlier, Rhys Cole and Bailey Cutts scored first half tries for Wales with fly half Lloyd Lucas adding a conversion and penalty with Ireland replying through wingers Daniel O’Connell and Ronan Kelly before Fergus Callington pounced. O’Kane added a conversion to leave the teams tied at the break.
Wales head coach Richard Whiffin was particularly pleased with the victory as his team had only been together a week, compared to the Irish team who have been together all season.
“The connections showed and how hard the boys worked for each other showed and it was really commendable. We scored some loverly tries as well with some good ball movement.
“For us to dig it out for the last 10-15 minutes was really impressive.”