England U/19 battle to beat Italy
Two tries to one at Sunbury
England Under-19 found Italy Under-19 tough but they beat them 18-11 at London Irish club in Sunbury on Friday afternoon.
Both England tries were scored by captain Hugo Ellis, his second ten minutes from time.
club men scored 11 points in the match – five for England and six for Italy. Alex Goode – no relation to Andy – kicked a penalty and a conversion after coming on as a replacement and scrumhalf Mickey Wilson kicked two penalty goals for Italy. Wilson, England born of Italian extraction, went to Italy as a little boy and was playing for and Italy age-group sides when spotted by a talent scout. He is in his first season with the club and has been playing for A.
Wilson and Adam Greendale had both missed early shots at goal, but England threatened first with Andy Saull prominent in attack and defence and centre Gareth Griffiths making ground in midfield.
The opening try came from England’s most fluent first-half move 17 minutes into the game with the ball moved wide before Ellis shrugged off two tackles and accelerated away from the cover to score wide on the right.
Greendale kicked a penalty goal before limping off and England led 8-0.
Italy then counterattacked from deep and were rewarded with two penalty goals by Wilson to make the score 8-6 to England at the break.
Goode kicked a penalty goals and then Italy captalised on an England error in their own 22 and scored their try through wing Andrea Bacchetti. That levelled the scores.
Italy came close to scoring again and were thwarted only by an astonishing, try-saving tackle by Michael Cox.
England came back on the attack and a crosskick by Goode presented Ellis with a simple second try, which Goode converted. England led 18-11 with ten minutes to play.
With five minutes to go Wilson hit the upright with a penalty attempt.
After the match Italy's team manager Francisco Cavatorti said with a mixture of pride and disappointment: " We defended excellently and gave a brilliant performance. All aspects were satisfying. But, with little more experience in more, we could have made this game ours. On the 11-11 English were in difficulty, but we did not know how to deliver the knock-out blow.. But this Italian side will be able to give much satisfaction in the matches to come this season."
Scorers:
For England:
Tries: Ellis 2
Con: Goode
Pens: Greendale, Goode.
For Italy:
Try: Bacchetti
Pens: Wilson 2
Teams:
England Under-19: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Noah Cato, 13 Tom Bedford, 12 Gareth Griffiths, 11 David Smith, 10 Adam Greendale, 9 Richard Bolt, 8 Hugo Ellis (captain), 7 Andy Saull, 6 Matthew Cox, 5 Ben Thomas, 4 Greg Gillanders, 3 Nathan Catt, 2 Joe Williams, 1 Jack Steadman,
Replacements: 16 Scott Freer, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Billy Moss, 19 Scott Hobson, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Garth Dew, 22 Johnny Arr, 23 Micky Young, 24 David Howells, 25 Greg King, 26 Alex Goode
Italy Under-19: 15 Marcello Magri, 14 Edoardo Rotella, 13 Alberto Chiesa (Bozzi Livorno), 12 Roberto Quartaroli, 11 Andrea Bacchetti, 10 Riccardo Bocchino, 9 Michael Wilson, 8 Rudolf Mernone, 7 Simone Favaro, Alessandro Leo, 5 Alberto Cazzola, 4 Filippo Giusti, 3 Massimiliano Ravalle, 2 Gabriele Morelli, 1 Andrea De Marchi
Replacements: 16 Elia Violi, 17 Lorenzo Sebastiani, 18 Nicola Simion, 19 Pietro Aggio, 20 Daniele Pompa, 21 Andrea Pratichetti, 22 Francesco Fiorani
Referee: Eric Gauzins (France)
Touch judges: K Lewis, Roland Potter (both England)
Assessor: Peter Crouch, Michael Priestley
