England
England U20 through to JWC final
By RFU Press Release
June 23 2011
England U20 are through to the final of the IRB Junior World Championship for the third time in four years after beating northern hemisphere rivals France 33-18 in Treviso, Italy. They will play the winners of the second semi-final between Australia and New Zealand.
England U20 are through to the final of the IRB Junior World Championship for the third time in four years after beating northern hemisphere rivals France 33-18 in Treviso, Italy. They will play the winners of the second semi-final between Australia and New Zealand. Tries from London Wasps wing Christian Wade, Leicester Tigers fly half George Ford, Saracens full back Ben Ransom and Newcastle Falcons No. 8 and captain Alex Gray helped England to the win in what was a topsy-turvy encounter, played in hot conditions. England started with real intensity and a strong scrum in the middle of the park was rewarded with a penalty that was kicked into touch by Ford. Northampton Saints hooker Mikey Haywood delivered a good throw from the line out and the ball was worked back to Farrell who kicked a grubber through for Wade to touch down for his fifth try of the competition. Ford missed the conversion. France’s response was immediate, heavy pressure from the restart resulted in USA Perpignan prop Sebastian Taofifenua burrowing over to score, and the successful conversion from Jean Pascal Barraque gave France the lead at 7-5. Both sides then exchanged penalties, Barraque for France and Ford for England, to make the score 10-8. Ford then missed a three-pointer that would have reclaimed the lead for Head Coach Rob Hunter’s men, dragging his kick just wide. Ford’s nifty footwork freed up space in open play minutes later, but the 18-year-old fly half couldn’t find the support to back him up. England were applying heavy pressure on the French defence and almost broke through five minutes before the break. Ransom found some space behind the French line but was denied by an excellent last-ditch cover tackle. England’s second try came just before half time, again, sustained pressure from the English pack resulted in Ford displaying some deft footwork to dodge several French tackles before crashing over to make the score 13-10 at the break, after the conversion was missed. Sloppy play from England at the start of the second half handed France two early penalties, No. 13 Barraque missed the first but made no mistake with the second to tie the scores up at 13-apiece. French wing Marvin O’Connor scored his side’s second try of the game with 52 minutes on the clock, making some space for himself along the touchline before cutting inside Ransom to touch down. The conversion was missed, giving France a five-point lead at 18-13. England hit back with their third try just five minutes later. Ransom, who came within meters of scoring in the first half, made no mistake second time around, touching down wide of the posts after some strong phase play from his teammates. Ford’s successful conversion gave England back the lead at 20-18. A Ford penalty after 65 minutes opened England’s lead up to five points, but France almost scored their third try ten minutes later in bizarre circumstance. A French line-out was won by England, but another ball appeared on the pitch while England had possession and the line-out was taken again. France won at the second attempt and almost scored in the corner, but the TV Match Official ruled that the ball wasn’t touched down. Ford’s radar was again spot on with seven minutes left to play, converting a long range penalty to give England an eight point lead at 26-18. France then went over England’s try line, but Irish referee John Lacey pulled it back after spotting a forward pass in the build up. With the clock past 80, France were throwing everything at England, but a loose pass in their own half was snapped up by captain Gray who ran through unopposed to touch down between the posts and Ford’s conversion brought the game to a close. Points: Wade 1T, Ford 1T, Ransom 1T, Gray 1T; Ford 3P 2C. England U20 starting XV v France: 15 Ben Ransom (Saracens) Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan (Harlequins) on for Mikey Haywood 53 mins |
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England U20 captain Alex Gray:
“To be involved in any final is a massive honour, the boys have worked so hard to get to where we are. We started out as a group back in September with the ultimate aim of winning both the 6 Nations and the Junior World Championships. We won the 6 Nations back in March and now we've got a chance of winning the JWC.
“The semi-final against France was tough, as we always knew it would be. They gave us a good game in the 6 Nations and they were only going to get better. We’re delighted to pull the win out of the bag though, they made it a bit nervy for us at times, but fortunately we held out for the win.
“We can’t wait for the final now – New Zealand have an aura about them but they definitely aren’t unbeatable. They sweat, they bleed – they’re human, so if we go out there with the right game plan then I’m confident we can give them a run for their money. A final is a one off game, it’s all or nothing rugby and we’ve got a chance.
“It will be my last game as an Under 20 player and I expect it will be pretty emotional. It’s been a long run, and a few of us have played together since we were with the Under 16s so it just gives us an added incentive to pull out all the stops when we play the Baby Blacks.”
Leicester Tigers fly half George Ford:
“It was a really tough game against the French, but we prepared well and executed our game plan pretty well. France are a physical side who have an air of unpredictability so it was really pleasing to get the four tries and secure the win. They caught us out on a couple of occasions which made it close but we pulled through in the end.
“It was nice to go over for my try – I don’t get many, but the phase play in the build up was excellent. We’ve got players who don’t know when to give up and the forwards looked after the ball very well and things just opened up for me, but there’s no way I’m taking any of the credit – it was a massive team effort.
“We know that were in for a tough match against New Zealand in the final, but anyone can beat anyone on their day so we’ll prepare as well as we can and look to produce our best rugby. It will be our last game together as a group and we want to give it absolutely everything.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing in the Junior World Championship. It’s a valuable experience and to be able to test yourself against the best players from across the world will stand us all in good stead in the future.”
Saracens prop Mako Vunipola:
“We went into the game knowing that France would be up for it, and they were. We played them in the 6 Nations but they upped their game for the semi-final and gave us a scare, but overall our hard work paid off.
“The lead changed hands on a few occasions and maybe they surprised us a little bit, but we knew that they would come at us for the first 50 minutes and we had to weather the storm. Our defence held out and our attackers were clinical when it mattered, so I think we deserved it in the end.
“New Zealand in the final will be a huge test for all of us, but they’re beatable – every team is beatable, no one has a right to win a game. It’s our last game together as a group so we will be leaving absolutely everything out on the pitch and hopefully that will be enough, we’re just going to go for it.”
London Irish centre Guy Armitage:
“It was a great honour to be named in the starting line up for the semi, it was my first start so it was a bit of a baptism of fire but I enjoyed every minute of it. Having played France in the 6 Nations we weren’t totally in the dark about what they were about, but it was important not to get complacent and I think we showed real professionalism with our performance, we got the job done and we look ahead to the final now.
“New Zealand did very well in their group stages, but Argentina and Australia have both given them good games, so we’ll be studying the videos and plotting a game plan to try and beat them – it’s a huge game for us and there’s a lot of excitement in the camp.
“I got a good luck text from Delon (Armitage) before the game yesterday which was a nice touch, and I’m pleased for him to be named in the initial training squad ahead of the seniors World Cup, but for now I’m focusing on our final!”
I really look forward to NZ/Eng games, your the only team in the world where losing a test match to is unacceptable.
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