England hung on to a
commanding first half lead which dramatically diminished in the second half
against the Junior Boks in Narbonne. England had amassed a 22-7 lead at the
break, only to see a spirited fightback from South Africa push the side all the
way to the final whistle. The 32-31 semi-final victory will see them play France
in the U20 Championship Final on Sunday.
England went into the semi-final as top seeds from the group
stages of the U20 Championship having won all three of their pool stages games,
racking up 117 points and scoring 18 tries in the process.
They faced South Africa who had only lost to the other final
side, France. The two teams had met prior to the tournament in a warm-up game
where South Africa were victors to an inexperienced England side.
The early territory and possession was in the hands of
England. South Africa were reduced to 14 men early on, with backrow Muller Uys
being yellow carded for a late hit on Marcus Smith.
England made the man advantage count as they raced into a
19-0 lead, with tries for Tom Parton, an excellent finish by Tom Hardwick and a
thrilling 80m try from Ben White after an electric run from winger Gabriel
Ibitoye.
South Africa were on the board before the break after a period
of intense pressure on the England line, Sazi Sandi crossing the whitewash for the
Junior Boks only score of the half.
South Africa came out firing in the second half however, continuing
to pressure England’s fringe defence. The power game causing problems for
England with two tries, one for Muller Uys and one for Ruan Nortje, narrowing the
lead.
England managed to stem the fightback with some stellar work
from their star players. Captain Ben Curry and lock Joel Kpoku winning a crucial
turnover with South Africa only a metre away from scoring to take the lead.
With the ball cleared a monstrous tackle from Fraser Dingwall dislodged the
ball, only for it to fall for Jordan Olowofela who scored his third try of the
tournament.
However, South Africa continued to dominate with England’s ill-discipline
giving the Junior Boks opportunity to attack. South Africa favouring the direct
route as, despite England’s best efforts, they scored two further tries to move
within one point of England.
Despite England losing a player to the sin-bin, they did
enough in the dying moments to hold on to possession as see out the victory and
move on to the final of the U20 Championship for a record 6th year in
succession.
England will be delighted to have come through their most
challenging fixture in the tournament so far with a victory, although it has
highlighted a number of areas that will need to be worked on before Sunday’s
final.
While the English backline, as throughout the tournament,
looked dangerous with ball in hand, the concerns about the lack of consistency
at the set piece will cause worry in the England camp. Another high penalty
count will also be a cause of concern, as it handed the Junior Boks a number of
chances.
Despite the areas highlighted, England have shown throughout
the tournament that they have the power and precision to punish sides with ball
in hand, and with the ferocious tackling on display in this fixture, there won’t be any easy
yards to make against this side.
The other semi-final saw a controlled victory from U20 Six
Nation’s Champions France, who have looked very impressive all tournament,
against early Championship favourites New Zealand.
The England-France final will be a repeat of the heated U20’s Six Nations fixture
which also took place in Beziers back in March. With England beating the home
side 22-6 on that occasion, they will be hoping to repeat those heroics on
Sunday to become U20’s Champions for a fourth time.
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