England win World Rugby U20 Championship to end France’s period of dominance
England celebrate at full-time of World Rugby U20 Championship final.
England have been crowned World Rugby U20 Championship winners after they powered to a 21-13 victory over France in the final in Cape Town on Friday night.
Joe Bailey and Arthur Green crossed for Mark Mapletoft’s outfit as they backed up their Six Nations title to become part of a select group to achieve that double feat.
England were 7-6 ahead at half-time with the match finely poised between the teams who had beaten Ireland and New Zealand respectively in Sunday’s semi-finals.
Bailey crossed first
The first 40 was marred by errors as only two Hugo Reus penalties for France, which came either side of second-row Bailey’s converted try, troubled the scorers.
Centre Sean Kerr converted Bailey’s effort as he bounced back after earlier hitting the post with a penalty attempt before miscuing another from the kicking tee.
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England, who struggled at the lineout, had earlier enjoyed a lucky escape when France full-back Mathis Ferte had a try ruled out for a knock-on earlier in the play.
France suffered a huge blow early in the second period when number eight Mathis Castro Ferreira was yellow carded for a high challenge on England’s Henry Pollock.
His absence proved dear as England were 15-6 ahead by the time Ferreira returned, this after Kerr had kicked a penalty and Green went over for an unconverted try.
Introducing the #WorldRugbyU20s winners for 2024: @EnglandRugby 🏴#ENGvFRA pic.twitter.com/f5B6uxr2rU
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 19, 2024
Two more penalties from Kerr further extended the English’s advantage as a much-improved effort after the interval saw French dreams of lifting the title evaporate.
France would cross through Ferte’s late on, which was converted by Reus, but it proved too little too late as the English celebrated lifting the U20 title in South Africa.
New Zealand third
Elsewhere, New Zealand also recovered from a slow start to beat Ireland 38-24 in the third place play-off.
Earlier at the same venue, hosts South Africa finished the World Rugby U20 Championship on a positive note, with a confident win over Wales to confirm a seventh-place finish.
The most dramatic match of the day to date though was Spain’s extra-time win over Fiji, which has relegated the Islanders to the U20 Trophy in 2025.
Also at Athlone Sports Stadium, Georgia beat Italy 24-13 to claim ninth place, and Argentina got the better of Australia to finish fifth.