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England Counties Under 20s 15 Scotland Under 20s 18
If the England side were under any misconceptions about the calibre of
the opposition following England Under 20s handsome win in the Six
Nations Championship, they were quickly removed by a powerful first-half display by the visitors.
Both sides managed only a single try, but England had to defend
desperately at times to prevent the Scots getting a significant
advantage via their territorial supremacy. Fly-half Stewart Edwards opened the scoring after eight minutes for the
visitors with a finely struck 40-yard penalty and his kicking
repeatedly repelled the home side during their early incursions into the
Scots half.
Scotland continued to defend resolutely when put under occasional
pressure and also showed plenty of confidence and menace when they had
the ball.
England replied the Edwards’ penalty after 18 minutes when a perfectly
weighted chip by scrum-half Sam Arnott bounced nicely for wingman Rueben
Haile to gather a canter home, but Scotland hit back 10 minutes later
through centre Danny Gilmour.
A crooked feed at a scrum, an additional 10 yards for talking and a
smartly-taken free kick did the damage before full-back Stuart Hogg ran
well before slipping the scoring pass to Gilmour. Slippery wingman Kerr Gossman then had England at full stretch on a
couple of occasions, chasing a threatening kick ahead and then showing
great nimbleness, but England held out and the half closed with
full-back Stuart Hogg and fly-half Aaron Penberthy landing injury time
penalties for Scotland and England respectively.
The resumption brought an increase in tempo from the home side and with
a greater share of the game territorially, they were able to exert
decent spells of pressure for the first time. Though they were still
guilty of losing the ball against a robust Scotland defence, they held
their footing in the Scotland half and were rewarded on the hour when
hooker Ben Sowery drove over from close range for a trade-mark score,
Penberthy converting.
Though England continued to have the better of the game, the Scottish
defence was tenacious and well-organised, while the threat presented by
the back division was obvious throughout.
Eventually it proved to be the cutting edge which brought victory. On
68 minutes Scotland attacked powerfully through the middle and when
England found themselves over-committed, Hogg had pace to spare as he
accelerated round the struggling defence for a try that he converted.
England had a chance to rescue the game with a lineout on the Scotland
line in injury time, but on this occasion the visitors defended manfully
to claim the prize.
“I think we saw an excellent performance by a side that was put
together in two or three days, well-coached and well-prepared,” said
Counties Manager Malcolm Ross: “Scotland have been together for a while
and showed a bit more edge. Scotland were a good side and we saw an
excellent game of rugby with some terrific football.
“I think they should all be very proud, The represented England extremely well.”
Coach Bob Hood echoed the sentiments when he said: “I thought this was a
really good start to the Counties Under 20s project. To come up against
a side that is competing in the Junior World Cup with all the
preparation they’ve had and do as well as they did has given this team
real merit. We could have won the game with a bit more attention to
detail and one or two different decision, so although we’re disappointed
with the defeat, I’m pleased with the way the project has gone.
Said Scotland coach Peter Wright: “We wanted the fixture to give us a
game with some physicality ahead of games like South Africa and the
England side were a physical team, so we get a boost out of winning.
Defensively we were very good and we battled hard and we managed to take
the couple of chances we had.
“And for our guys, it’s the experience of beating an English team and competing very well against a physical side.”
England Counties Under 20s: Chris Surman (Loughborough University,
South West & Gloucestershire); Jamie Harrison (Broughton Park, North
& Lancashire), Peter Homan (Middlesbrough, North & Yorkshire),
Elliott Brierley (Macclesfield, North & Cheshire), Reuben Haile
(Cinderford, South West & Gloucestershire); Aaron Penberthy
(Redruth, South West & Cornwall), Sam Arnott (Southend, South West
& Gloucestershire); Tom Channon (Newton Abbot, South West &
Devon), Ben Sowery (Wharfedale, North & Yorkshire), Matt Shields
(Tynedale, North & Northumberland), Josh Beaumont (Fylde, North
& Lancashire), Miles Normandale (University of Wales Institute
Cardiff, Gloucestershire), Liam Wilkinson (UWE Bristol, South West &
Gloucestershire), Joe Atkinson (Loughborough Un/Petersfield, London
& SE & Hampshire), Ben Sparks (Stourbridge, South West &
Gloucestershire) capt,
Replacements used: Tom Emery (Lydney, South West &
Gloucestershire), Tom Harrison (UWE Hartpury, South West &
Gloucestershire), Carl Kirwan (Middlesbrough, North & Yorkshire),
Joe Pass (Derby, Midlands & Notts, Lincs & Derby), Brett Turner
(Lydney, South West & Gloucestershire), Ben West (Newbury, South
West & Berkshire), Andrew Murray (Nuneaton, Midlands &
Warwickshire)
Scotland Under 20s: S Hogg (Hawick/Glasgow Warriors); G Bryce
(Heriots), S Atkin (Edinburgh Accies), D Gilmour (Stirling County), K
Gossman (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks); S Edwards (Stirling County), S
Kennedy (Stirling County); A Allan (Loughborough Un), R Ferguson
(Melrose), C Philips (Stewarts Melville), M Todd (Nottingham), R
McAlpine (West of Scotland), J Swanson (Boroughmuir), G Runciman
(Melrose), J Tyas (Bath).
Replacements used: M Lyness (Edinburgh Accies), G Hunter (Glasgow
Warriors), R Hislop (Edinburgh/Boroughmuir), M Eadie (Bristol), A Spence
(Heriots), A Redmayne (Dundee HS), B Colvine (Melrose), C Jackson
(Melrose), J Clark (Team Northumbria), H Mountain (Team Northumbria), J
Forbes (Watsonians) |
