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LIVE ON SKY TONIGHT




Fri 13 England U20 v France U20 (8pm) 7.30pm

France currently up 21-6.

England 11-31 France

Under 20s slip up at Sixways against France

England U20 11 France U20 31

England's grip on their RBS Under 20 Six Nations title is over after they were punished for their mistakes and given a lesson in finishing by France.

Full back Djibril Camara's two tries either side of the interval effectively decided the outcome of the game with and hookers Benoit Guyot and Jean Charles Orioli both finishing off a pair of sharply executed attacks.

Harlequins wing Seb Stegmann briefly lit up the second half at Sixways and scored England's only try with Newcastle fly half Rory Clegg kicking two first-half penalties.

There were some bright individual performances to enjoy - captain Luke Eves looked head and shoulders above his midfield opponents and back-row debutants Jacob Rowan and Jamie Gibson battled away - but England were collectively short on composure, punch up front and finishing power.

There was plenty for both these sides to play for as they attempted to keep up the pressure on unbeaten Ireland, who beat England and France by margins of one and three points respectively in the earlier rounds.

Both started with energy and ambition, England with Eves leading from the front in midfield and France with a dangerous runner from full back in Camara.

Flanker Antonin Raffault was held up over the line when France launched their first major attack but a second TMO decision went in their favour when hooker Guyot was driven over from close range with Bernard converting to secure the early lead.

Just as they had done against Ireland in Athlone, England created plenty of half-chances, either unable to finish off promising attacks set up by breaks from Eves and Clegg or through some uncharacteristic handling errors.

They created enough pressure to set up the field position for Clegg to kick penalties in the 13th and 23rd minutes, though, while Bernard missed with a more difficult shot 10 minutes before the interval.

But they were punished for a defensive error a minute before the break when Bernard kicked for the corner, two players couldn't deal with the loose ball and Camara followed up to score with Bernard converting from wide on the right.

France duly delivered the decisive blow in bizarre fashion five minutes into the second half, Bernard's mishit drop-goal effort deflected over the line in slow motion with the defence wrongfooted to give Camara a second easy touchdown.

The conversion put France 15 points clear with half-an-hour remaining and it took England a while to inch their way back into the game, deploying their replacements early and establishing some rhythm going into the final quarter.

They turned down one simple penalty shot with 20 minutes to go, messed up the attack that followed, but finally generated some irresistible momentum once Stegmann was switched back from the left flank to his more familiar right wing.

His first break took him 50 metres, Rowan following up to go close with French hooker Guyot sinbinned for illegally stealing the ball, before England moved the ball wide once more for the Harlequins wing to get over in the corner.

They conceded a penalty within moments, though, Bernard taking France 13 points clear, and England also switched off late in the game with Orioli following up to score and Bernard's accurate boot putting his side completely out of sight.

England U20: Greig Tonks (Leicester Tigers; Will Hurrell, Leicester Tigers 71); Seb Stegmann (Harlequins), Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby, captain), Tom Casson (Saracens; Freddie Burns, Gloucester Rugby 51), George Lowe (Harlequins); Rory Clegg (Newcastle Falcons), Dan White (Leeds Carnegie; Sam Harrison, Leicester Tigers 47); Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs), Jamie George (Saracens; Arthur Ellis, London Wasps 55), Bob Baker (London Wasps; Joe Marler, Harlequins 50), James Gaskell (Sale Sharks), Dan Williams (Gloucester Rugby; Peter Elder, London Wasps 65), Jamie Gibson (London Irish), Jacob Rowan (Leeds Carnegie), Chris York (Harlequins; Tom Sargeant, Harlequins 47).

Scorers: Try: Stegmann. Penalties: Clegg 2.

France U20: Djibril Camara (Stade Francais); Benjamin Fall (Bayonne), Geoffrey Doumayrou (Montpellier; Guillaume Namy, Brive 56), Laurent Trainer (Biarritz), Leo Griffoul (Narbonne); Pierre Bernard (Bayonne), Ludovic Radosavljevic (Clearmont Auvergne); Loann Goujon (Clermont Auvergne), Benoit Guyot (Stade Francais), Alexandre Lapandry (Clermont Auvergne, captain; Thomas Dubois, Colomiers 62), Mickael De Marco (Montpellier; Baptiste Hezard, Clermont Auvergne 54), Russlan Boukerou (Stade Toulousain), Thomas Lebrequier (Biarritz), Antonin Raffault (Biarritz; Jerome Mondoulet, Agen 48), Rabah Slimani (Stade Francais).

Scorers: Tries: Camara 2, Guyot, Orioli. Conversions: Bernard 4. Penalty: Bernard

Referee: Stefano Penne (Italy). Attendance: 5,719.

Clegg had a good game @ F/H apparently.

Anyone watch it on Sky?

Mapletoft, Eves and Stegmann on Under 20 defeat

Reaction from the 31-11 defeat against France last night at Worcester where England conceded four tries and replied with a try from George Lowe (Harlequins) and two penalties from Rory Clegg (Newcastle Falcons). England's final game of the tournament is against Scotland next Friday night at Worcester (8pm, live on SkySports).

Coach MARK MAPLETOFT on the game and schoolboy flanker Jamie Gibson (London Irish):

"It's been a harsh lesson for some of them but it's important they learn from it and there were a lot of young lads out there.

"It's about being more clinical. They (France) had five or six trips into our 22 and came away with four tries, whereas maybe we played some of our best rugby in our half.

"One of the positives for us was Jamie Gibson, who was superb. It's his first week with us but he's an outstanding player in the making and for him to move fromEngland Under 20 camp following last night's 31-11 defeat against France at Worcester. England face Scotland in their final game next Friday No.6 to No.8 was a big ask for him."



Harlequins wing SEB STEGMANN on England's failings:

"We felt we were playing the rugby in the game and were the more ambitious, but they were just more clinical in the last part of the field and we just did not finish.

"In defence we didn't deal as well as we might and they got the best of the bounce of the ball.

"A lot of it's down to us not looking after the ball enough. Maybe we tried to play too much rugby, tried to force things, whereas maybe we need to increase the pressure on other sides."



Captain LUKE EVES (Bristol Rugby) on England's style of play

"We played most of the rugby but just shot ourselves in the foot with mistakes and not taking our chances.

"When we kept the ball we looked dangerous but there were too many offloads when it wasn't on and too many knock-ons. We tackled too high and didn't put them on the floor and when you don't do that you're in for a tough night.

"France are a big physical side and maybe we did try and play too much against them, but we're not about to change the way we play. It just came down to the final pass, the execution and the fine detail.

"Before we play Scotland we've got to have a good hard look at ourselves and approach it with the same style but with better execution."