England U21 clinch Grand Slam

Nobody close

England Under-21 were comfortable winners of the 2006 U21 Six Nations and did so with a Grand Slam.

England scored 193 points against just 65. Only Wales ran them close.

Results on the Under-21 Six Nations:

Round 1

England vs Wales, 26-18
France vs Scotland, 37-0
Ireland vs Italy, 34-9

Round 2

England vs Italy, 48-3
France vs Ireland, 29-10
Wales vs Scotland, 34-24

Round 3

England vs Scotland, 49-22
Wales vs Ireland, 14-13
France vs Italy, 51-5

Round 4

England vs France, 30-17
Scotland vs Ireland, 24-21
Wales vs Italy, 36-3

Round 5

England vs Ireland, 40-5
France vs Wales, 17-8
Scotland vs Italy, 21-14

Final standing:

1. England
2. France
3. Wales
4. Scotland
5. Ireland
6. Italy

England Under-21 vs Ireland Under-21 at Sixways Stadium, Worcester, on Friday, 17 March 2006

England beat Ireland 40-5, five tries to one in the cold and the wind.

It was a performance of pace and power in front of the 9 726 strong crowd as the England pack dominated their visitors in most departments.

England scored two penalty goals inside five minutes both kicked by flyhalf Toby Flood whose steepling kicks from hand also kept the Irish defence on their toes throughout the half.

But it was centre Anthony Allen who really lit up the crowd midway through the half when he burst through the Irish defence from just inside the Irish half to blister his way almost to the line before handing over to flank James Haskell to finish off.

Flood missed the conversion but made up for it six minutes before the break when he slotted over his third penalty as Irish flank Ejike Uzoigwe was yellow carded at a ruck.

Within minutes England had scored again following great work from No.8 Jordan Crane and openside flank Michael Hill to set up a try for prop David Wilson. Flood duly added the conversion and England turned around 21-0 to the good.

And they scored three minutes after the restart when left wing Nick Abendanon jinked his way through a startled Irish defence to score and Flood again obliged with the extras.

Five minutes later No. 8 Jordan Crane smashed his way over from a quickly taken tapped penalty situation before a neat break from Haskell gave Abendanon his second touchdown under the posts and an easy conversion for Flood.

As England rang the changes Irish finally opened their account when fullback Fionn Carr scored in the left-hand corner.

Coach Jim Mallinder said: “This is a tremendous achievement and to win the Grand Slam and Six Nations shows the strength of English rugby coming through. It’s a credit to the Regional Academies and it’s the result of a lot of hard work from all the players but also the management and backroom staff.” 

Captain Matt Cornwell said: “It was an awesome performance. I thought the first half was the best 40 minutes of rugby we've ever played. We stuck to the game plan, took the points early and tried to play rugby where we could.”

In an unpleasant aftermath to the victory Rob Andrews of Newcastle complained that Wilson had suffered a broken jaw in the match and was not attended to till the club saw him two days later.

Scorers:

For England:
Tries: Haskell, Wilson, Abendanon 2, Crane
Cons: Flood 3
Pens: Flood 3

For Ireland:
Try: Carr

Teams:

England Under-21: 15  Mike Brown, 14 Thom Evans, 13 Matt Cornwell (captain), 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Nick Abendanon, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Foden, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Michael Hills, 6 James Haskell, 5 Tom Croft, 4 Richard Blaze, 3 David Wilson, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Rogers
Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Sean Cox, 19 Alex Rae, 20 Nick Runciman, 21 Ryan Lamb, 22 Topsy Ojo

Ireland Under-21: 15 Fionn Carr, 14 Peter Durcan, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Matthew Williams, 10 Conan Doyle, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Sean O'Brien, 7 Ejike Uzoigwe, 6 Ross Noonan, 5 Devin Toner, 4 David McGowan,  3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Stuart Philpott (captain), 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: unknown

Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Touch judges: Tim Beddow, Paul Dix (both England)
Assessor: John Haggart (England)

Wales Under-21 vs France Under-21 at Rodney Parade, Newport on Friday, 17 March 2006

France beat Wales 17-8.  It was always going to be close as Wales, the 2005 champions, were never going to concede easily.

Things looked very promising for last season's Grand Slam winners as the forwards began to dominate the early exchanges. And it was a series of surges and well timed off-loads that opened the space for wing Aled Brew to score in the right corner.

Falling behind seemed to focus French minds,  impressive centre Grégory Puyo squeezed between Wales No.8 Adam Powell and lock Alun Wyn Jones to cross in the shadow of the posts.

France's second try after the break, which clinched victory, was also the result of sloppy Welsh defence.

Hooker Guilhem Guirado broke from a rolling maul inside the Wales 22 and sprinted clear with the cover defence nowhere in sight.

François Trinh-Duc's penalty just before the hour mark ended the night's scoring as France comfortably held on for their fourth win of the campaign.

Scorers:

For Wales Under-21:
Try: Brew
Pen: Flannigan

For France Under-21:
Tries: Puyo, Guirado
Con: Wisnieski 2
Pen: Trinh-Duc 

Teams:

Wales Under-21: 15 Jamie Roberts, 14 Aled Brew, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Tom Riley, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 David Flanigan, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Adam Powell, 7 Rhys Shellard, 6 Ben Lewis, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Phil Osborne (Newport), 2 Duane Goodfield (captain), 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 Ian Jones, 18 Will Jones, 19 Craig Everett, 20 Tom Cheeseman, 21 Liam Davies, 22 Aled Thomas.

France Under-21: 15 Julien Jeuvrey, 14 Jacques Boussuge, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Grégory Puyo, 11 Yann Fior, 10 John Wisniewski, 9 Fabien Cibray, 8 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Fabien Alexandre, 5 Denys Drozdz, 4 Loic Jacquet,  3 Medhi Merabet, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 F Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Arnaud Héguy, 17 Delboulbes, 18 Yohan Carpentier, 19 Guillaume Bernad, 20 Tomas, 21 François Trinh Duc, 22 Thierry Brana

Referee: David Changleng (Scotland)
Touch judges: Iain Heard, Jim Yuille (both Scotland)

Italy Under-21 vs Scotland Under-21 in Benevento on Friday, 17 March 2006

A try at the death gave the match to Scotland. It was an even affair till Stephen Biggart, on as a substitute for Greig Laidlaw, scored the winning try with two minutes to go.

The score was locked at 14-all when the Italians were penalised for arguing with the referee. Chris Dunlop set up a ruck inside the Italian 22. Points machine David Blair stood back as if to drop. The Italians focused on him leaving Biggart free to scurry over for a try under the posts.

Scorers:

For Scotland Under-21:
Tries: Cairns, Biggart
Con: Blair
Pens: Blair, King

For Italy Under-21:
Try: Varani
Pens: Buso 2, Robuschi

Italy Under-21: 15 Riccardo Robuschi, 14 Michele Sepe, 13 Enrico Patrizio, 12 Marco Neethling, 11 Diego Varani, 10 Paolo Buso, 9 Stefano Canale, 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Nicola Cattina, 6 Paul Derbyshire, 5 Mantvydas Tveraga, 4 Alberto Saccardo (captain),  3 Andrea Michelini, 2 Valerio Vicerè, 1 Andrea Giazzon.
Replacements: Andrea Barbieri, Enrico Ceccato, Lorenzo Giovanchelli, Matteop Muccignat , Matteo Pratichetti , Fabio Semenzato.

Scotland Under-21: 15 James King, 14 Cameron Johnston, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Iain Kennedy, 11 Ben Addison, 10 Dave Blair (captain),  9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 John Beattie, 7 Alan MacDonald, 6 John Barclay, 5 Ian Nimmo, 4 James Eddie, 3 David Young, 2 Sean Crombie, 1 Ryan Grant
Replacements: 16 Andrew Reekie, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Scott Newlands, 19 Calum Forrester, 20 Stephen Biggart, 21 Chris Dunlop, 22 Robert Cairns

Referee: Jean-Pierre Mathieu