England seal top seeding with revenge over Scotland

England were convincing 35-10 winners over Scotland in Beziers, as they earned the top seeding spot heading into the U20 Championship semi-finals. With 10 changes made to the starting fifteen that beat Italy at the weekend, England demonstrated their strength in depth, as the competition for starting places heats up. The performance shows the squad are well prepared for when they meet South Africa in their semi-final next week.

England will hope to be returning to the Stade de la Mediterranee
in just over a week to compete in the U20 Championship Final

England’s changes meant there were six players who started the disappointing loss to Scotland in this seasons U20’s Six Nations. The round three loss at Myerside cost the England side both the Six Nations Championship and the Grand Slam. However, England made the most of their opportunities to right the wrongs of that fixture in Beziers.

Despite Scotland controlling territory for large swathes of the opening of the match, the English defence was both impressive in its speed and physicality. England showed they were also clinical with ball in hand, scoring with their first opportunity of the match. First phase ball being shifted wide to Gabriel Ibitoye whose pace and power saw him beat one defender before riding a tackle and dotting the ball down.

Despite giving away a number of early penalties, it was England who crossed the whitewash again. This time the work of a powerful driving maul from the lineout gave hooker Beck Cutting the chance to power over and score.

Ibitoye created England’s next score shortly afterwards. An excellent run down the touchline gave England an excellent attacking platform. With quick ball and swift handling, James Scott found himself with the opportunity to dot down in the corner to extend England’s lead.

Scotland worked themselves back into the game just before half-time. Finding themselves with a man advantage after a yellow card for England full-back James Grayson, Scotland get their opening try of the game. A well weighted kick into the in-goal area is pounced on by Rowe, the conversion bringing the half-time score to 17-10.

England dominated the majority of the second half. After an opening period of pressure, it fell to Ibitoye to pick up his second try of the match. This time his power shone through, after bumping off the first tackler, he carried two Scottish defenders over the try-line for an excellent finish by the corner flag.

There were still points on offer to England, as they picked up two more scores before the final whistle. The first from Joel Kpoku as he used his powerful carrying to finish an England maul which was stopped just short. The final score coming from injury call-up Matt Williams. Some excellent offloading work in the midfield giving Williams a chance out wide to borrow through the Scotland defence to score.

England put together an impressive performance on both sides of the ball. Despite a worryingly high penalty count against England, their defence on the whole was very effective. A quick defensive line and dominating the collisions forced Scottish errors, backrow Ted Hill leading the charge on a number of occasions.

The English coaches will also be pleased with England’s clinical nature will ball in hand. Crossing the whitewash six times, England showed they don’t need much possession to create points, scoring with the first two significant attacking opportunities of the game.

Outside centre Jordan Olowofela stood out yet again this tournament, his ability to make defenders miss and supporting running lines is going to create selections headaches going into the knockout rounds. However, it was Harlequins winger Gabriel Ibitoye who stole the limelight. With two tries of his own, and creating countless opportunities for others, he can create space and opportunity from nothing with his power and pace.

With three victories from three and bonus points in all their matches, it sealed England’s spot at top seeds from the group stages of the U20 Championship. They will face 4^th seed South Africa in their semi-final in Narbonne on Tuesday evening.

England faced South Africa in a warm-up game in Worcester before the squad left for the Championship. While the result may not have gone England’s way, losing 26-12, it will be a much-changed squad that will take to the field in Narbonne. However, it will have give the squad an understanding of the fast and physical game they can expect from the Junior Boks. Expect an exciting contest and both teams will be vying for a place in U20 Championship Final.