U20 Six Nations Wrap: Wins for England, Ireland, Wales

Table-toppers England kept their unbeaten start going while Ireland toppled France and Wales hammered Scotland on Friday.

The results mean that England hold a three-point lead over Ireland after three rounds at the top of the U20s table.

England U20 46-0 Italy U20
Northern Echo Arena, Darlington

England produced their third bonus-point win in a row so far in the U20 Six Nations after comfortably dispatching Italy at the Northern Echo Arena in Darlington.

Hooker Jamie Blamire broke the deadlock after 18 minutes with the game’s first try and England never looked back, crossing twice more before the half-time interval through Sale Sharks’ Ben Curry and captain Zach Mercer.

Jacob Umaga, the nephew of current Blues head coach Tana, converted one of the three scores to make it 17-0 at half-time.

England then secured the bonus-point in the 42nd minute, when Sam Aspland-Robinson touched down following Alex Mitchell’s grubber kick.

And from there England were out of sight, finishing the contest with two tries each for back-row Josh Bayliss and full-back Tom Parton.

Despite plenty of effort, Italy were unable to alter the scoreboard and will return home to host France in Round 4 in Cagliari. England’s next game meanwhile comes against Scotland.

The scorers:

For England U20:
Tries: Blamire, Curry, Mercer, Aspland-Robinson, Bayliss 2, Parton 2
Cons: Umaga 2, Smith

England: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Sam Aspland-Robinson, 13 Dominic Morris, 12 Max Wright, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Zach Mercer (c), 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jack Nay, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Josh Caulfield, 3 Ciaran Knight, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Ollie Dawe
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Max Davies, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Rory Brand, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Joe Cokanasiga

Italy: 15 Massimo Cioffi, 14 Andrea Bronzini, 13 Ludovico Vaccari, 12 Marco Zanon (c), 11 Giovanni D’Onofrio, 10 Antonio Rizzi, 9 Charly Vincenzo Ernst Trussardi, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Lorenzo Masselli, 6 Jacopo Bianchi, 5 Gabriele Venditti, 4 Giordano Baldino, 3 Giosuè Zilocchi, 2 Massimo Ceciliani, 1 Daniele Rimpelli
Replacements: 16 Alberto Rollero, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Michele Mancini Parri, 19 Edoardo Iachizzi, 20 Nardo Casolari, 21 Emilio Fusco, 22 Michelangelo Biondelli, 23 Roberto Dal Zilio

Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Finlay Brown (Scotland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Ireland U20 27-22 France U20
Donnybrook, Dublin

Ireland U20 kept up their chase of leaders England with a well-fought win over France in the Irish capital on Friday, as a late Bill Johnston penalty took France out of range in the final minutes.

Ireland’s third win of the championship was kickstarted by a 15th-minute try from hooker Tadgh McElroy, converted by Johnston, before France responded thanks to a Romain N’Tamack penalty.

But Ireland then moved clear with two tries, as scores from Tommy O’Brien and Oisin Dowling gave Ireland a commanding 21-3 lead.

France closed the gap before half-time thanks to Faraj Fartass, who capitalised on Arthur Retiere’s break, making the score at the interval 21-10.

Johnston’s penalty stretched the lead to 24-10 but responded, Fartass grabbing his second try and a penalty try in the 71st minute turning a contest that looked over into a 24-22 game.

A second Johnston penalty in the 74th minute however settled an Irish nerves, as they held out for the win.

The scorers:

For Ireland U20:
Tries: McElroy, O’Brien, Dowling
Cons: Johnston 3
Pens: Johnston 2
Yellow Card: Sean Masterson

For France U20:
Tries: Fartass 2, Penalty Try
Cons: N’Tamack 2
Pen: N’Tamack

Ireland: 15 Rob Lyttle, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Tommy O’Brien, 12 Ciaran Frawley, 11 Calvin Nash (c), 10 Bill Johnston, 9 Jonny Stewart, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Paul Boyle, 6 Marcus Rea, 5 Oisin Dowling, 4 Jack Regan, 3 Charlie Connolly, 2 Tadgh McElroy, 1 Joey Conway
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Rory Mulvihill, 18 Peter Cooper, 19 Gavin Coombes, 20 Sean Masterson, 21 Jack Lyons, 22 Conor Fitzgerald, 23 Alex McHenry

France: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Faraj Fartass, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Theo Dachary, 11 William Iraguha, 10 Romain N’Tamack, 9 Arthur Retiere, 8 Alexandre Roumat, 7 Julien Ruaud, 6 Dylan Cretin, 5 Mickael Capelli, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Thomas Laclayat, 2 Etienne Fourcade, 1 Kevin Tougne
Replacements: 16 Leo Aouf, 17 Florian Dufour, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Killian Geraci, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Anthony Fuertes, 23 Theo Millet

Referee: Tom Foley (England)
Assistant Referees: Phil Watters (England), Hamish Smales (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)

Scotland U20 34-65 Wales U20
Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld

Wales U20 came out on top in a highly entertaining contest against Scotland outside of Glasgow, with a total of 14 tries scored between the two sides.

Wales bounced back from their loss to England by running in eight tries, including a double for centre Keiran Williams, as fly-half Ben Jones finished with 25 points including an impressive eight out of eight conversions.

Cameron Lewis opened the scoring after five minutes and Wales never looked back, as Corey Baldwin and two penalties from Jones helped build a commanding 20-0 lead after half an hour.

K Williams then grabbed his first try but two quick scores from Scotland’s Tom Dodd and Fraser Renwick, one converted by Connor Eastgate, made it 27-12 to Wales at the interval.

Rhun Williams’ score and a Jones penalty stretched that lead to 37-12, Scotland replying through Callum Hunter-Hill, as both teams fired shots back and forth throughout the second half.

Andrew Simmers and a double from replacement back Robbie Nairn weren’t enough for Scotland to change the outcome, as Wales scored through Rhys Carre, James Botham and Morgan Morris.

The scorers:

For Scotland U20:
Tries: Dodd, Renwick, Hunter-Hill, Simmers, Nairn 2
Cons: Eastgate, Henderson

For Wales U20:
Tries: Lewis, Baldwin, K Williams 2, R Williams, Carre, Botham, Morris
Cons: B Jones 8
Pens: B Jones 3

Scotland: 15 Stafford McDowall, 14 Ross McCann, 13 Craig Pringle, 12 Connor Eastgate, 11 Darcy Graham, 10 Josh Henderson, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Tom Dodd, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Alex Craig, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 4 Hamish Bain, 3 Adam Nicol, 2 Fraser Renwick, 1 Fergus Bradbury
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Daniel Winning, 18 George Thornton, 19 Bruce Flockhart, 20 Jamie Ure, 21 Andrew Simmers, 22 Cameron Hutchison, 23 Robbie Nairn

Wales: 15 Rhun Williams, 14 Corey Baldwin, 13 Cameron Lewis, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Ben Jones, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Aled Ward, 7 Will Jones (c), 6 James Botham, 5 Alex Dombrandt, 4 Sean Moore, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Corrie Tarrant, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Owen Hughes, 17 Steff Thomas, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Max Williams, 20 Morgan Morris, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Arwel Robson, 23 Phil Jones

Referee: Thomas Charabas (France)