England U20 beat Italy 48-10 #FutureStarsofRugby

Jun 8 • General News, International, World Rugby Junior Championship • 1228 Views • Comments Off on England U20 beat Italy 48-10 #FutureStarsofRugby

Photo: World Rugby

England got their World Rugby Under 20 Championship off to a winning start with a six-try bonus point victory (48-10) over Italy at the Manchester City Academy Stadium this evening.

Martin Haag’s side led 17-3 at the break with tries from George Nott and Sam Aspland-Robinson as well a conversion each for Theo Brophy Clews and captain Harry Mallinder, while the Northampton Saints centre also sent over a penalty.

Italy’s first half points came from a long-range drop goal through the boot of Leonardo Mantelli.

England dominated the second period. A Mallinder penalty as well as tries for Joe Marchant, a penalty try, Jack Singleton, Zach Mercer – their fifth different scorer of the game – gave them an unassailable lead.

Mallinder also sent over two second-half conversions as did Max Malins and while Italy had the final say of the game with a late converted try through Lorenzo Robin Masselli the match belonged to England – winning 48-10.

Haag credited his side for their impressive start to the tournament, praising their attacking rugby but added they would need to improve their accuracy ahead of Saturday’s game against Scotland.

“We played some great attacking rugby, with some real intent which is what we are trying to do,” said Haag. “At times it wasn’t as accurate as we would have liked it to be. As a group we have standards we are aspiring to and want to express ourselves in our play.

“We had the intent but we just weren’t quite accurate enough but that will come. It was great to blow the cobwebs away and now we need to recover ahead of a big game on Saturday.”

Italy had the majority possession in the opening period before England developed a 14-3 lead by the break.

“Credit must go to Italy, particularly for their strong start,” he said. “We knew they would have a big 40, they put us under pressure, before knocking on over the line, but we were composed as a group and went down the other end and scored and had a couple of shots at goal which took the score away from them.

“We re-assessed at the break and came out with good energy and scored some great tries in the second half, I’m pleased with that.”

Haag added: “I’m disappointed we conceded at the end, we need to play for the full 80 minutes. There is still plenty to work on but we’ll keep improving as we look ahead and move onto the next one.”

Scorers:

Tries: George Nott, Sam Aspland-Robinson, Joe Marchant, Jack Singleton, Penalty Try, Zach Mercer
Conversions: Theo Brophy Clews, Harry Mallinder (3), Max Malins (2)
Penalties: Harry Mallinder (2)

England squad for Italy:

1. Tom West (Wasps)
2. Jack Singleton (Worcester Warriors)
3. Billy Walker (Saracens)
4. Andrew Kitchener (Worcester Warriors)
5. Huw Taylor (Worcester Warriors)
6. George Nott (Sale Sharks)
7. Jack Willis (Wasps)
8. Callum Chick (Newcastle Falcons)

15. Darren Atkins (Bath Rugby)
14. Sam Aspland-Robinson (Harlequins)
13. Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
12. Harry Mallinder (Capt.) (Northampton Saints)
11. Ollie Thorley (Gloucester Rugby)
10. Theo Brophy-Clews (London Irish)
9. Max Green (Yorkshire Carnegie)

16. Jack Walker (Yorkshire Carnegie)
17. Lewis Boyce (Yorkshire Carnegie)
18. Will Stuart (Wasps)
19. Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby)
20. Josh Bainbridge (Yorkshire Carnegie)
21. Harry Randall (Gloucester Rugby)
22. Johnny Williams (London Irish)
23. Max Malins (Saracens)

England Pool B fixtures:
England 48-10 Italy (Tuesday 7 June) KO 19:45, Manchester City Academy Stadium
England v Scotland (Saturday 11 June) KO 18:00, Manchester City Academy Stadium
England v Australia (Wednesday 15 June) KO 19:45 AJ Bell Stadium
Semi-finals and knock-out matches (Monday 20 June) Details TBC
Final and knock-out games (Saturday 25 June) Details TBC

For tickets and more information about the World Rugby U20 Championship visit: http://www.englandrugby.com/u20championships/ #FutureStarsofRugby