England U20s too strong for Aussies

By Mark Stevens
13/6/19

England Under-20s head coach Steve Bates was full of praise for his side after they sealed a 56-33 bonus-point victory over Australia in their final pool game of the World Rugby U20 Championship in Argentina.

Having lost their opening fixture of the tournament to Ireland, before beating Italy in match two, the result means they finish third in their pool and cannot advance to the top four of the Championship.

They will next face Ireland in the fifth-place play-off on Monday, 17 June, KO 7.30pm BST, in Rosario, Argentina with New Zealand and Wales making up the other half of the draw.

England - who included Exeter Chiefs quartet James Kenny, Richard Capstick, Rus Tuima and Sam Maunder in their starting line-up - led 42-12 at the break, scoring six tries through Fraser Dingwall, Ollie Sleightholme, Tom de Glanville, Aaron Hinkley and a brace for Ted Hill, with Josh Hodge converting them all.

Australia crossed via Noah Lolesio and Isaac Lucas but it was a half dominated by Bates’ side.

There were second-half scores for Manu Vunipola and Tom Willis, which Hodge converted, while Australia crossed via Will Harris, Fraser McReight and Carlo Tizzano to secure a losing bonus point and top the group.

Post-match, Bates said: "I'm really pleased with the performance, it was much improved. We cleared the breakdown really well, particularly in the first half. We carried hard and made ground and that was the catalyst for us to create some quick ball which meant we were on the front foot.

"We used our dominance up front and we looked like a team that was confident on the front foot but there were some really good performances from our lads and they will feel a lot better after that.

"I feel a lot of sympathy for Australia because we suffered two yellow and a red in our first match against Ireland and that has heavily affected the result and it was similar here."