England U18 wrap up third successive Grand Slam
U18s Coach John Fletcher
By RFU Press Office
April 6 2010
England completed their third successive Grand Slam at Under 18 level in style by running in six tries against Ireland at Llandovery.
England U18s wrap up third successive Grand Slam
Ireland U18s 17 v England U18s41
Captain John Ford - Photo Courtesy of RFU
England completed their third successive Grand Slam at Under 18 level in style by running in six tries against Ireland at Llandovery.
Hooker Koree Britton, wing Charlie Walker, flanker Chris Walker, centre Elliot Daly, fly half George Ford and full back Ben Ransom all touched down with Ford adding four conversions and a penalty as they wrapped up an 18th successive international win since July 2007.
Patrick Jackson's three penalties and a drop goal from Cahal Marsh kept a competitive Ireland side in the game at half time but they were kept at bay after that until hooker Niall Scammell's late consolation try.
England's free-scoring backs have earned plenty of praise this season, but this win underlined the all-round excellence of their front five, with hooker Britton (Ivybridge Community College) and props Nick Auterac (Oaklands College & Saracens) and Anthony Brennan (Twyford CofE & London Wasps) prominent in the dark set piece corners as well as the wide open spaces.
That industry all over the pitch kept up the pressure and made sure England were in the position to turn their scoring opportunities into second half points.
Rishworth & Leicester Tigers fly half Ford and Jackson traded penalties in the opening minutes before England's first try, set up by Newcastle RGS and Newcastle Falcons scrum half Joel Hodgson's energetic quick tap and go and finished with Britton's drive over from close range.
A positive and patient Ireland attack enabled Marsh to pull three points back before a second try in the 15th minute, this time a sharp first phase backline move aimed at the left-hand corner with one wing, Whitgift and London Irish's Marland Yarde, putting the other, Oakham's Walker, over for the score.
Ireland used the wind at their backs well, though, with Jackson adding penalties in the 27th and 30th minutes to keep his side in the hunt until England's forwards bundled their way over from a lineout with Prince Henry's and Leeds Carnegie flanker Walker coming up with the ball.
Wing Sam Coghlan-Murray's burst into the line set nearly earned Ireland a first try immediately after the break but despite another good spell of pressure they couldn't cut the deficit and Ford pinned them back before creating one and scoring the other of the next two tries.
Both came from close range lineouts with Ford breaking then offloading out of the back of the hand for Daly (Whitgift and London Wasps) to go over under the posts 12 minutes into the second half. The fly half struck again four minutes later, this time stepping inside the final defender to score.
Hartpury and Gloucester centre Ryan Mills's burst through the middle and offload put Tonbridge and Saracens full back Ransom - a willing counter-attacker from deep all season - over on the right for try number six with Ford's conversion taking England past the 40-point mark.
The composure disappeared briefly with replacement prop Kyle Sinckler (Epsom College & Harlequins) sin-binned before Ireland scored from the final move of the match when Scammell claimed a cross-kick and grounded the ball before he could be bundled into touch.
Ireland U18:
Aaron Thomas; Mark Corballis (Steve Macauley 51), Peter Nelson (JJ Hanrahan 61), Patrick Jackson, Sam Coghlan-Murray; Cahal Marsh (Richard McMaster 67), Luke McGrath; Rory Harrison (Des Merrey 39), Niall Scammell, Kye McCall (Peter Reilly 23-33, 44), Shane Buckley, Jack Conan, Aaron Coneelly (Eoin Cross 60), Conor Gilsenan, Daniel Qualter.
Scorers: Try: Scammell. Penalties: Jackson 3. Drop goal: Marsh.
England Under 18:
Ben Ransom (Tonbridge & Saracens); Marland Yarde (Whitgift & London Irish), Elliot Daly (Whitgift & London Wasps), Ryan Mills (Hartpury Coll & Gloucester), Charlie Walker (Oakham); George Ford (Rishworth & Leicester Tigers, Captain), Joel Hodgson (RGS Newcastle & Newcastle Falcons); Nick Auterac (Oaklands College & Saracens), Koree Britton (Ivybridge Coll & Exeter Chiefs), Anthony Brennan (Twyford CofE & London Wasps), Dominic Barrow (Prince Henry's GS Otley & Leeds Carnegie), Sam Twomey (Dulwich Coll & Harlequins), Billy Vunipola (Harrow & London Wasps), Chris Walker (Prince Henry's Otley & Leeds Carnegie), Matt Kvesic (Worcester Sixth Form Coll & Worcester Warriors).
Replacements: Nathan Moris (Sedbergh & Newcastle Falcons) for Britton 60, Kyle Sinckler (Epsom Coll & Harlequins) for Brennan 44, George Merrick (Whitgift & Harlequins) for Twomey 60, Will Skuse (Bryanston & Bath Rugby) for Chris Walker 44, Dan Robson (Hartpury Coll & Gloucester Rugby) for Hodgson 40, Jamie Elliott (Bedford & Northampton Saints) for Daly 58, Mark Jennings (Lymm HS & Sale Sharks) for Yarde 53.
Scorers: Tries: Britton, Charlie Walker, Chris Walker, Daly, Ford, Ransom. Conversions: Ford 4. Penalty: Ford.
Yellow card: Sinckler 69.
England U18 wrap up third successive Grand Slam
Posted by: Unofficial England Rugby Union (IP Logged)
Date: 06/04/2010 17:33
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Fletcher: You can't beat the system
Posted by: World Rugby (IP Logged)
Date: 13/04/2010 09:38
England's academy systems are producing more high quality young players than ever before according to Under 18 head coach John Fletcher.
England completed a third successive Grand Slam and extended their winning run to 18 games since the summer of 2007 with this week's 41-17 victory over Ireland.
Hooker Koree Britton, wing Charlie Walker, flanker Chris Walker, centre Elliot Daly, fly half George Ford and full back Ben Ransom all touched down at Llandovery.
Their season opened with the 30-28 win against Australia at Heywood Road and England went on to beat France 33-16, Italy 28-12, Wales 43-22 and Scotland 29-9.
England reshaped their age group programmes in 2006-07 to startling effect at Under 18 and Under 20 levels with the latter side reaching the last two IRB Junior World Championship finals.
Two players from that first Under 18 generation of 2006-07 - Leicester Tigers scrum half Ben Youngs and Northampton Saints lock Courtney Lawes - have already been capped at senior level.
"From a Guinness Premiership point of view and a national point of view the game at this level is very healthy," said Fletcher.
"The regional academies, the clubs and schools are doing a great job. These boys turn up to us in great shape mentally, physically, technically and tactically and what we do is create a good environment and encourage them to play with freedom and ambition and spirit.
"The regional academies identify players earlier, they're more specifically tailoring their individual and playing programmes, and nationally through [Elite Rugby Director] Rob Andrew and [Head of National Academy] Stuart Lancaster we've now got a very good programme for our teams that's pretty much the envy of the rest of the world."
Fletcher's side exceeded their target of four tries per game by touching down 28 times in six outings.
"I'm a big believer that at this level you've got to play a very expansive game with as many threats for the opposition as possible," he said. "That we've done that is really pleasing."
Captain George Ford signed off with a try against Ireland - one of 14 different players to get on the scoresheet for England in the six games.
Rishworth and Leicester Tigers fly half Ford said: "We've got better as the season's gone on and the more we've played together - we've managed to keep our standards high and score some good tries. The way we play anyone can score and everyone gets involved. That's the way we've trained and it's paid off with tries again against Ireland."
Whitgift and London Irish wing Marland Yarde finished as the leading try-scorer with six in six games, including four against Scotland on Good Friday.
England completed a third successive Grand Slam and extended their winning run to 18 games since the summer of 2007 with this week's 41-17 victory over Ireland.
Hooker Koree Britton, wing Charlie Walker, flanker Chris Walker, centre Elliot Daly, fly half George Ford and full back Ben Ransom all touched down at Llandovery.
Their season opened with the 30-28 win against Australia at Heywood Road and England went on to beat France 33-16, Italy 28-12, Wales 43-22 and Scotland 29-9.
England reshaped their age group programmes in 2006-07 to startling effect at Under 18 and Under 20 levels with the latter side reaching the last two IRB Junior World Championship finals.
Two players from that first Under 18 generation of 2006-07 - Leicester Tigers scrum half Ben Youngs and Northampton Saints lock Courtney Lawes - have already been capped at senior level.
"From a Guinness Premiership point of view and a national point of view the game at this level is very healthy," said Fletcher.
"The regional academies, the clubs and schools are doing a great job. These boys turn up to us in great shape mentally, physically, technically and tactically and what we do is create a good environment and encourage them to play with freedom and ambition and spirit.
"The regional academies identify players earlier, they're more specifically tailoring their individual and playing programmes, and nationally through [Elite Rugby Director] Rob Andrew and [Head of National Academy] Stuart Lancaster we've now got a very good programme for our teams that's pretty much the envy of the rest of the world."
Fletcher's side exceeded their target of four tries per game by touching down 28 times in six outings.
"I'm a big believer that at this level you've got to play a very expansive game with as many threats for the opposition as possible," he said. "That we've done that is really pleasing."
Captain George Ford signed off with a try against Ireland - one of 14 different players to get on the scoresheet for England in the six games.
Rishworth and Leicester Tigers fly half Ford said: "We've got better as the season's gone on and the more we've played together - we've managed to keep our standards high and score some good tries. The way we play anyone can score and everyone gets involved. That's the way we've trained and it's paid off with tries again against Ireland."
Whitgift and London Irish wing Marland Yarde finished as the leading try-scorer with six in six games, including four against Scotland on Good Friday.