Last-gasp win for England
A penalty two minutes into injury time gave England Under-18 a 24-21 win over Wales Under-18 at City Park in Cape Town on a windy Friday afternoon after Wales had seemed on the way to victory.
At half-time Wales, playing with the wind, led 21-7, but they failed to score in the second half as the bigger England forwards got increasingly on top, forcing the Welsh to defend which they did manfully.
Wales scored first through a try by Elis-Wyn Benham to lead 7-0 but a try by centre Max Clark levelled the scores. Two penalties and a dropped goal by flyhalf Luke Price put Wales ahead and then a try on an overlap by Benham gave Wales their substantial lead at half-time.
With the wind at their backs in the second half, England camped in Welsh territory and were rewarded with two tries, first by Harry Mallinder and then from prop Owen Hills which the TMO confirmed.
Mallinder missed a penalty from a scrum infringement with two minutes to go. Time was up when England were penalised but Wales – bless them – tapped and played to try to get the win. They were penalised for holding on when Mallinder was there first. Then a long way out but with the wind behind him, Mallinder goaled the winning penalty. There was great disappointment for the Welsh who lost 43-12 to England in March.
Scorers:
For England:
Tries: Max Clark, Harry Mallinder, Owen Hills
Cons: Harry Mallinder
Pen: Harry Mallinder
For Wales:
Tries: Elis-Wyn Benham 2
Con: Luke Price
Pens: Luke Price 2
Drop: Luke Price
Teams
England Under-18: 15 Taylor Prell, 14 Kai Little, 13 Max Clark, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 Roti Segun, 10 Rory Jennings, 9 Will Homer, 8 Henry Cheesman, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Charlie Beckett, 5 Joe Batley, 4 Joe Maksymiw, 3 Seb Adeniran-Olule, 2 Ollie Adams, 1 Lewis Boyce.
Replacements: 16 James Fish, 17 Ciaran Parker, 18 Owen Hills, 19 Kieran Tredwell, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Theo Brophy Clews, 22 Joe Marchant, 23 Cameron Cowell, 24 John Williams.
Wales Under-18: 15 Morgan Williams, 14 Shaun Pearce, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Dan Jones, 11 Elis-Wyn Benham, 10 Luke Price, 9 Matthew Aubrey, 8 Jon Fox, 7 Josh Middleton, 6 Tom Phillips (captain), 5 Seb Davies, 4 Matthew Dodd, 3 Kieran Assirratti, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Harrison Walsh .
Replacements: 16 Keegan Bale, 17 Dafydd Hughes, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Calum Haggett, 20 Shaun Evans, 21 Michael Hale, 22 James Whittingham, 23 Joe Gage, 24 Jordan Roberts
Referee: Rodney Bonaparte (South Africa)
