A late flourish saw England Under-20s run out comfortable 48-15 winners against Ireland at the Ricoh Arena, but it was not enough to wrestle the Championship from France’s grasp.
A late flourish saw England Under-20s run out comfortable 48-15 winners against Ireland at the Ricoh Arena, but it was not enough to wrestle the Championship from France’s grasp.
The hosts went into their final game knowing they would need Les Bleus to slip up against Wales in Colwyn Bay to retain their trophy, but the French secured the bonus-point win they required to lift the 2018 Under-20 Six Nations trophy.
Ultimately, England’s shock defeat to Scotland proved their downfall as even a comprehensive seven-try victory against Ireland was not enough to leapfrog France.
The pressure of the task ahead appeared to weigh on England in the opening minutes as Ireland opened the scoring when James Hume caught Harry Byrne’s grubber kick and touched down.
Ben Loader eased English nerves with a try from James Grayson’s cross-kick, but Irish skipper Tommy O’Brien restored the visitors’ lead with a try on 15 minutes, converted by Byrne.
Fraser Dingwall’s try and Tom Hardwick’s conversion brought the scores level, before the two sides traded penalties to go into the half-time break all square at 15-apiece.
Byrne’s penalty at the end of the first half would turn out to be Ireland’s last score of the match, though, as England ran riot in the second half.
Ben White’s score on 56 minutes, converted by Hardwick, started the rush of tries after man of the match Gabriel Ibitoye set him up with an excellent offload.
Ireland’s O’Brien was then sent to the sin-bin for an illegal challenge, with substitute Joe Heyes barrelling over the tryline to secure England’s bonus point soon after.
A rampant Ibitoye piled on the misery for Ireland after picking up a loose ball and sprinting over in the 70th minute, with Hardwick adding the extras once more.
Josh Basham and captain Ben Earl added two further tries in the final ten minutes, with Hardwick converting one of them, as England finished 48-15 winners. However, France’s 24-3 triumph against Wales saw them claim the title for the first time since they won the Grand Slam in 2014 as England were left to rue what might have been.
