Maunder scores in Under-20s victory

By Mark Stevens
18/6/19

England will face Wales in the fifth-place final on Saturday at the World Rugby U20 Championship after sealing a 30-23 victory over Ireland in Rosario, Argentina.

They will take on Wales, who earlier defeated New Zealand in the other semi-final, at the Racecourse Stadium, Rosario (KO 2.30pm BST, live on World Rugby).

Steve Bates' side led 13-6 at the break, with Josh Hodge scoring a try and converting his own score as well as adding two further penalties as Ireland responded through Ben Healy’s boot.

A second-half try from Sam Maunder, which Hodge converted as well as a further penalty increased England's lead but late scores from Jonathan Wren and Brian Deeny which Healy converted levelled the game.

But in stoppage time Tom Willis bundled over to seal a dramatic late victory with Hodge adding a third conversion.

Having lost their opening fixture of the tournament to Ireland and despite victories over Italy and Australia in their pool, England were unable to advance to the top four of the Championship - leaving them to battle for fifth.

Bates said: “In really difficult conditions for both sides we weathered an early storm and conceded a lot of ground in the first 30 minutes but fought back and scored a late try at the end of the first half and I thought we really stuck in there in that opening half.

“To come back and win the game right at the end is a big win against opponents who have beaten us twice and that’s hugely rewarding. I thought we defended really strongly, other than some discipline issues they never looked like scoring from open play and until the charge down we looked in control of the game and that was largely down to our defensive effort.

"We need to work on a few areas of our game but we look forward to playing Wales.

“That final fixture against Wales, who have beaten us already this season, will focus the minds of the players again. After the disappointed of the first loss to Ireland in this competition we’ve showed true resilience and a it is a testament to how much these boys want to play for each other.”

England U20s v Ireland U20s

15. Tom de Glanville (Bath Rugby)
14. Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints)
13. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, capt)
12. Cameron Redpath (Sale Sharks)
11. Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons)
10. Manu Vunipola (Saracens)
9. Sam Maunder (Exeter Chiefs)
1. Kai Owen (Worcester Warriors)
2. Will Capon (Bristol Bears)
3. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
4. Joel Kpoku (Saracens)
5. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
6. Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs)
7. Aaron Hinkley (Gloucester Rugby)
8. Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors)

Replacements

16. Nic Dolly (Sale Sharks)
17. Olly Adkins (Gloucester Rugby)
18. James Kenny (Exeter Chiefs)
19. Tom Willis (Wasps Rugby)
20. Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs)
21. Ollie Fox (Yorkshire Carnegie)
22. Connor Doherty (Sale Sharks)
23. Tom Seabrook (Gloucester Rugby)
24. Luke James (Sale Sharks)
25. Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish)

England U20 fixtures and results

4 June: England U20s 26-42 Ireland U20s

8 June: England U20s 24-23 Italy U20s

12 June: England U20s 56-33 Australia U20s

17 June: England U20s 30-23 Ireland U20s

22 June: England U20 v Wales U20 (Saturday, 2.30pm BST, live on World Rugby platforms