Scotland and England secured dramatic victories on the final day of Under-18 Six Nations Festival action in Parma, Italy.
Hamish MacArthur kicked a late penalty to give Scotland a 20-17 victory against Italy, while Nick Lilley’s second half double for England helped his team to a 26-19 win against Georgia.
Elsewhere Ireland beat Portugal 54-0, while France came out on top of a high scoring clash with Wales to win 43-33.
PORTUGAL 0-54 IRELAND
Ireland were faultless in their final Six Nations Under-18's Men's Festival outing of 2024 as they beat Portugal 54-0.
Ethan Black got the scoring underway in the opening exchanges, the outside centre crashing over from close range after his forwards did much of the hard work.
Full of confidence following their quick start, Ireland registered three more first-half tries through Conor O’Shaughnessy, Donnacha McGuire and Noah Byrne.
In the second half Ireland added four more tries to finish the tournament strongly.
Three of those came thanks to Ireland's driving maul.
After starting the second half strongly, Portugal held out Ireland for 15 minutes before hooker Luke McLaughlin was bundled over the try line for his first of the match.
McLaughlin added a second shortly afterward, before being replaced by Connor Magee.
It was Magee who added Ireland’s seventh try of the afternoon and Paddy Curry completed the comprehensive victory with a diving score on the left touchline.
FRANCE 43-33 WALES
In a competitive clash with Wales, France concluded their Six Nations Under-18's Men's Festival with a 43-33 win.
Opening the scoring with less than 10 minutes played, Baptiste Veschambre latched onto Luka Keletaona’s offload five metres out to dot down.
Wales soon responded while French inside centre Bastien Rasal was in the sin bin, Will Evans driving over from close range and keep his side in the contest.
A Keletaona penalty put France back in the lead but Stef Emmanuel gave Wales the advantage after a smart interchange with Lewis Edwards.
Before the midway stage, Melvyn Rates and Ethan Tia both crossed the whitewash for the Bleuets who pulled clear.
France’s dominance continued into the second 35 minutes as Marceau Marzullo and Charly Mignot went over to put them in the ascendancy.
Wales finished the encounter strongly. In the closing stages, Gabriel Elissalde got France’s final score of the afternoon, before Wales crossed the try line through Deian Gwynne and Joseff Jones.
ENGLAND 26-19 GEORGIA
A late Nick Lilley try handed England a dramatic 26-19 win against Georgia.
The outside centre’s second-half double went a long way to handing England the win in Italy on Sunday afternoon after Jonathan Pendlebury’s trailed 9-5 at half-time.
Georgia’s lead at the midway point came as a result of Gigi Sirbiladze’s three penalties which cancelled out Tyler Offiah’s try.
The contest sprung into life in the 50th minute as Sam Graham powered over from within the five-metre channel.
Both teams would go blow for blow as they attempted to round off their time in Italy with another victory.
Looking for a second win in as many games, Georgia crossed the try line twice through replacement hooker David Archvadze.
Scoring either side of Lilley’s first of the afternoon to level the scores at 19-all, Archvadze’s efforts shrouded the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in nervousness as the clock ticked toward red.
With the game on the line Lilley provided a winning touch as England broke down the right flank, the centre latching onto a basketball pass from Felix Bateman-Champain to take the lead once and for all.
SCOTLAND 20-17 ITALY
A late Hamish MacArthur penalty gave Scotland a 20-17 win over Italy.
With the game level heading to the 70-minute mark, the replacement playmaker helped Scotland finish their campaign in Parma on a high.
Italy had much the better of things in the opening 35 minutes. They opened the scoring with a Pietro Celi penalty, before tries for Nicola Noselli and Lorenzo Ferrari gave the hosts a commanding lead.
Henry Armstrong hit back for Scotland before the break, the fly-half also adding a penalty in the 39th minute to keep Ross Miller’s side in the fight.
To level the scores, MacArthur scored and convert his own try before being offered the opportunity to win the encounter when Italy infringed at the ruck.
