U20 Six Nations, Round 2
In Round 2, the three round-one winners will play the three round-one losers, and they could all be interesting matches. The Under-20 championship is still wide open.
Results, Round 1
Ireland vs England 35-27
Italy vs Scotland, 32-22
France vs Wales, 32-10
Fixtures, Round 2
Ireland vs Scotland
Italy vs Wales
France vs England
Scotland vs Ireland
The only change that was made to Ireland’s starting team was forced by injury. Craig Casey is forced out and up comes Cormac Foley of St Mary’s from the bench to start. Prop Luke Masters is the other change to the bench.
Scotland have made just three changes to their side. Rufus McLean comes in to fullback in the place of Ollie Smith, Ewan Ashman replaces injured Finlay Scott at hooker and Charlie Jupp slides back to No.8 with Cameron Henderson coming in to lock.
Teams
Scotland: 15 Rufus McLean, 14 Rory McMichael, 13 Cameron Anderson, 12 Robbie McCallum, 11 Jack Blain, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Roan Frostwick, 8 Charlie Jupp, 7 Connor Boyle (captain), 6 Kwagga van Niekerk, 5 Cameron Henderson, 4 Ewan Johnson, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Euan Ashman, 1 Sam Grahamslaw
Replacements: 16 Angus Fraser, 17 Andrew Nimmo, 18 Euan McLaren, 19 Ross Bundy, 20 Jack Mann, 21 Kyle McGhie, 22 Nathan Chamberlain, 23 Matt Davidson
Ireland: 15 Jake Flannery, 14 Conor Phillips, 13 Liam Turner, 12 David Hawkshaw (captain), 11 Jonathan Wren, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Cormac Foley, 8 John Hodnett, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Martin Moloney, 5 Niall Murray, 4 Charlie Ryan, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin,1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Luke Masters, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 David McCann, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Sean French, 23 Rob Russell
Date: Friday, 8 February 2019
Kick-off: 19.30
Venue: Gala RFC, Netherdale
Expected weather conditions: Miserable – rain with a high of 10°C and a low of 4°C
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assessor: Martin Fox (England)
England vs France
France are the reigning Six Nations Under-20 champions and the reigning Junior World champions. England have just been beaten. England have changed three backs in their starting team. Two of them are the result of injuries to captain Fraser Dingwall and wing Cadan Murley. There are no changes to the starting pack.
There are two uncapped players on the bench – Tom de Glanville and Kai Owen.
Sacha Zegueur, the French flank, was sent off against Wales in the first round, is suspended and has been replaced by Maxence Lemardelet who comes off the bench. Lock Killian Geraci and Thomas Lavault are out injured.
There is only one survivor on the French bench – prop Eli Eglaine.
It would be unwise to write off England.
Teams
England: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Arron Reed, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Sam Maunder, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Aaron Hinkley, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Joel Kpoku, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Nic Dolly, 1 Olly Adkins,
Replacements: 16 Ben Atkins, 17 Kai Owen, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 James Scott, 20 Rusiate Tuima, 21 Ollie Fox, 22 Tom Hardwick, 23 Tom de Glanville
France: 15 Alexandre De Nardi, 14 Vincent Pinto, 13 Arthur Vincent (captain), 12 Julien Delbouis, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Louis Carbonel, 9 Quintin Delord, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Maxence Lemardelet, 6 Mathieu Hirigoyen, 5 Florent Vanverberghe, 4 Gauthier Maravat, 3 Giorgi Beria, 2 Rayne Barka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Pierre Jutge, 17 Eli Eglaine 18 Akim Bouzhir, 19 Thibault Hamonou, 20 Loïc Hocquet, 21 Baptiste Germain, 22 Simon Desaubies, 23 Erwan Dridi
Date: Saturday, 9 February 2019
Kick-off: 12.05
Venue: Sandy Park, Exeter
Expected weather conditions: Rainy with a high of 10°C and a low of 2°C
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Simon Rees (Wales), Gareth Newman (Wales)
Television match official: Ian Davies (Wales)
Timekeeper: Andrew Pearce (England)
Italy vs Wales
Ancient Mantua is the birthplace of the great Roman poet Virgil and it also is the venue for Sunday’s match between Italy and Wales.
Wales have lost outside centre Tom Hoppe and captain Tommy Reffell to injury and Jac Price to a disciplinary suspension. Hooker Dewi Lake takes over the captaincy.
Teams
Italy: tba
Wales: 15 Ioan Davies, 14 Tomi Lewis, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Deon Smith, 10 Cai Evans, 9 Jamie Hill, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Lennon Greggains, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Ed Scragg, 3 Ben Warren, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Rhys Davies
Replacements: 16 Will Griffiths, 17 Tom Devine, 18 Kemsley Mathias, 19 Max Ayling/Iestyn Rees, 20 Ellis Thomas, 21 Dafydd Buckland, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Joe Roberts
Date: Sunday, 10 February 2019
Kick-off: 15.00
Venue: Stadio Danilo Martelli, Mantua
Expected weather conditions: Rainy with a high of 8°C, dropping to 4°
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Graeme Ormiston (Scotland), Bob Nevins (Scotland)
Assessor: Nigel Yates (England)
