U20: France shock England
The victory of the England senior team over France may be a surprise; the victory of France Under-20 over England was a shock.
After all France had lost to Ireland.
Saturday’s result means that Ireland are the only unbeaten team in the Under-20 Six Nations and go off to England this weekend with real hopes of a Grand Slam
Fixtures, Round Four
France vs England, 12-8
Ireland vs Scotland, 26-0
Wales vs Italy, 33-23
Previous results:
Round One
England vs Scotland, 59-3
Ireland vs Wales, 11-6
France vs Italy, 19-5
Round Two
England vs Italy, 42-7
Wales vs Scotland, 28-15
Ireland vs France, 13-12
Round Three
France vs Scotland, 31-20
Ireland vs Italy, 27-8
England vs Wales, 40-9
France vs England:
England scored the only try of the match and England twice held the lead – after Ryan Mills’s opening penalty and then after David’s Sisi’s second-half try. But after Mills France’s scrumhalf Tom Ecochard kicked two penalties and he did the same after Sisi’s try.
The truth is that the French pack dominated the match and were twice prevented from being awarded tries on the advice of the TMO.
Afterwards England’s captain Chris Walker said: “We’re absolutely gutted, there was a lot of emotion at the end of the game and we’re really disappointed about the loss.
“We play the game to win and ultimately we weren’t able to do that against a good, strong French side. They dominated the set-piece and that cost us, but we’ve got a massive game against Ireland to look forward to – we’re disappointed, but this will make us stronger.”
The scorers:
For France:
Pens: Ecochard 4
For England:
Try: Sisi
Pen: Mills
The teams:
France: 15 Theo Platon, 14 Darly Domvo, 13 Bastien Fuster, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Yohann Artru, 10 Enzo Selponi, 9 Tom Ecochard, 8 Karl Chateau (captain), 7 Kelian Galletier, 6 Alban Placine, 5 Paul Jedrasiak, 4 Bastien Chalureau, 3 Pascal Cotet, 2 Christopher Tolofua, 1 Romain Taofifenua.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Fidinde, 17 Kevin Goze, 18 Jefferson Poirot, 19 Andrew Chauveau, 20 Jimmy Yobo, 21 Eric Escande, 22 Ilian Perraux, 23 Julien Kazubek.
England: 15 Ben Ransom, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Charlie Walker, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 Ryan Mills, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Jack Clifford, 7 Chris Walker (captain), 6 Matt Kvesic, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Tom Price, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Luke Cowan Dickie.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 David Sisi, 20 Will Skuse, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Will Addison.
Referee: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
Assistant referees: Domenico Sironi, Simone Colantonio
Ireland vs Scotland:
Ireland have won four out of four, the only team still capable of a Grand Slam, and they did it convincingly even if there was a bit of a fall in the first half of the second half after the home side had led 8-0 at the break.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Layden, McGrath, Conan
Con: Jackson
Pens: Jackson 3
The teams:
Ireland: 15 Shane Layden, 14 Conor Finn, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 JJ Hanrahan, 11 Foster Horan, 10 Paddy Jackson (captain), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Aaron Conneely, 6 Conor Gilsenan, 5 Daniel Qualter, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Peter Reilly, 2 James Rael, 1 Kyle McCall.
Replacements: 16 Callum O’ Connell, 17 Des Merrey), 18 Jake Cawley, 19 Tadhg Beirne, 20 Jordan Coghlan, 21 Kieron Marmion, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Stuart Olding.
Scotland: 15 Tommy Allan, 14 Jamie Farndale, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Finn Russell, 11 Michael Crawley, 10 Harry Leonard (captain), 9 Matt Torrance, 8 Jamie Swanson, 7 Will Bordill, 6 Mitch Eadie, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Andrew Redmayne, 3 Alex Allan, 2 George Turner, 1 Robin Hislop.
Replacements: 16 Russell Anderson, 17 Gavin Robertson, 18 Adam Sinclair, 19 Callum Reid, 20 Jamie Bhatti, 21 Murray McConnell, 22 Tom Steven, 23 Robbie Fergusson.
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Jérôme Lamirand (France), Philippe Courbier (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)
Wales vs Italy:
The brave Italians were in with a serious chance of drawing the match when with five minutes to play when Italy’s flyhalf John Apperley passed and Wales No.8 Dan Baker intercepted and raced 50 metres to score the try that dashed Italian hopes.
At half-time Italy led 17-13. Luke Morgan’s try took Wales to a 23-20 lead.
The scorers:
For Wales:
Tries: Rob Evans, Luke Morgan, Baker
Cons: Sam Davies 2, Jordan Williams 2
Pen: Davies 2
For Italy:
Tries: Calabrese, Sarto
Cons: Odiete 2
Pen: Apperley 3
The teams:
Wales: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Iolo Evans, 13 Nathan Edwards, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Dan Baker, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ellis Jenkins (captain), 5 Jack Jones, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Jamie Sollis, 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Darran Harris, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Reuben Tucker, 20 Ieuan Jones, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Ross Jones.
Italy: 15 David Odiete, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Michele Campagnaro, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 John Apperley, 9 Guido Calabrese, 8 Vittorio Marazzi, 7 Federico Conforti, 6 Jacopo Salvetti, 5 Matteo Ferro, 4 Alessio Zdrilich, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Giovanni Maistri (captain), 1 Sami Drissi.
Replacements: 16 Alain Moriconi, 17 Luca Scarsini, 18 Antonio Brandolini, 19 Luca Mammana, 20 Andrea De Marchi, 21 Edoardo Padovani, 22 Davide Farolini, 23 Alex Morsellino.
Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Mark Patton (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Jude Quinn (Ireland)
