Allen leads from the front for England U20s

By Harry Scott-Munro
21/3/22

Exeter Chiefs back-row Maisy Allen led from the front as she scored a try and set up another, in England Women’s U20s 38-7 victory over Scotland Futures in Darlington on Saturday.

Allen captained the side from flanker in the first of three fixtures for the side, with club team-mates Georgie Grimes, Flo Robinson and Nancy McGillivray joining Allen in the starting XV and Abby Middlebrooke making an impact from the bench.

The result was beyond doubt before half time, as England ran in five tries. They would register another early in the second half, although Scotland rallied, to hit back with a consolation score towards the end of the match.

After the Scots had had the better of the opening exchanges, Allen broke through the middle of their defence, only to be hauled down just short of the line. The English pack went to work though, with Jemima Moss crashing over from close range after a series of carries from the forwards left Scotland scrambling.

England’s second came soon after, thanks to a classy finish from Holly Thorpe. After beating several Scottish tacklers, the wing raced free to dive over out wide. Thorpe would soon have her second too, much to the delight of the home crowd, as she dived over in similar fashion to extend England's lead to 19 points, following Duffy's touchline conversion.

England were in no mood to take their foot off the gas and Allen added her name to the scoresheet with little over half an hour on the clock. There was a proper Chiefs flavour to the score as well, as Robinson kept the ball moving, to allow McGillivray to feed her club-mate and captain to dot down.

Abi Kershaw would add to her side’s tally before the break, as England stretched their lead out to 33 points.

Both sides made a host of changes at half time, with Middlebrooke entering the fray for England. Scotland though, enjoyed the majority of possession and territory in the second half, as they rallied despite trailing on the scoreboard.

England showed their cutting edge though, to score from one of their only entries to the Scottish 22 after the break. Robinson again kept the play moving quickly, allowing Tori Sellors to find Jenny Hesketh to score in the corner.

The last 20 minutes was dominated by the away side, who pressed hard to get themselves on the scoreboard to make sure they would leave the Northern Echo Arena with something to show for their effort. After a Scottish try was called back for a forward pass, the visitors soon had their reward at the second time of asking, as they were awarded a penalty try Both sides continued to attack from deep in the final stages but were unable to add to their tallies.

With over 500 in attendance, this was a hugely positive result for England U20s, ahead of next weekend’s trip to Normandy to take on France U20s.