Türkiye 41 Ireland 18 at Hasan Dogan Stadium, Ankara

Türkiye threw the 2024/25 IFAF European Championships Level 2 group wide open with a convincing 41-18 victory over Ireland in from of 4,000 spectators at the Hasan Dogan Stadium in Ankara on Sunday.

The win sets up a decisive match-up between Türkiye and the Netherlands in Arnhem on Sunday, November 17.

Türkiye (1-0) currently sits on top of the group ahead of Ireland (1-1), who beat the Netherlands (0-1) 18-13 at Navan Rugby Club on October 19. A Dutch win in the final game would force a three-way tie with the next tiebreaker between tied nations the overall points differential from all games.

Turkiye opened the scoring with a field goal by Kerim Sarikatipoglu on their first drive before a turnover led to Ensar Kilic connecting with Kayra Efe Turkmen for the game’s first touchdown and a point after touchdown by Sarikatipoglu for a 10-0 advantage.

Andrew Quinn replied with a 43-yard field goal for Ireland and added three more points in the second quarter, but İshak Samilcan Yildiz’s touchdown run late in the half earned a 17-6 halftime lead for the hosts.

Ireland’s first drive of the second half ended with an interception by Berk Guven and the Turkish offense again breached the endzone with a run from quarterback Kilic. Ireland scored their first touchdown of the game in third quarter through John Hanburry but a two-point conversion was unsuccessful. Turkiye ended the third quarter with a 27-12 lead after a field goal.

A Turker Alan touchdown in the fourth quarter extended the lead to 34-12 before Ireland reduced that by six points with a Tom Donovan score. With three minutes remaining a pick-six by Oguzhan Ceyhan the win for Turkiye and Sarikatipoglu’s extra point made it 41-18.

2024/25 IFAF European Championships Level 2 Group Stages Schedule October 19       Ireland 18 Netherlands 13 November 3     Türkiye 41 vs Ireland 18 November 17  Netherlands vs Türkiye in Arnhem

Photo: Türkiye Ragbi Federasyonu