England U20 defeated by France

10 Mar 2023 | 5 min |

England U20 Men fell to their first defeat of the 2023 Six Nations with a 42-7 loss to France U20 at the Rec.

Bath Rugby’s Sam Harris got over on his home ground, but Alan Dickens’ side conceded five tries as their opponents secured the bonus-point victory.

England will travel to take on Grand Slam-chasing Ireland in the final round of the tournament next Sunday, needing a win to keep their own title hopes alive.

On their first period of sustained attack, England worked their way up to the French 22 before earning a kickable penalty. They turned that down and went to the corner, but after an initial charge, a handling error from Tristan Woodman when charging for the line saw the chance go begging.

France, by contrast, were happy to get the scoreboard ticking when they got their first opportunity, Hugo Reus slotting three points from a scrum penalty.

Joe Jenkins strayed offside from a kick midway through the first half to give France the chance to stretch their lead, Reus again on target with the kick.

And when England got back up to the French 22 with an attacking lineout and an opportunity to get their first points, a crooked throw in the lineout allowed the visitors to escape.

England kept coming and held onto the ball for one concerted attack. The French defence held though, and in the end it was the visitors who got over for the first try, Léo Drouet finishing a long-range counter attack.

Reus converted to make it 13-0, with England’s maul penalised on the stroke of half-time as they had one final bid to get over in the first 40 minutes.

Despite the scoreline, England had made far more metres than their opponents (285m to 175m), but they were struggling to convert it into points.

Lewis Chessum came up with a big lineout steal early in the second half, disrupting French ball in the 22 as they pushed for more points. However a breakdown infringement allowed Reus to make it 16-0.

And they had another try within a minute, skipper Emilien Gailleton pouncing on a loose ball and just getting away from Tobias Elliott to score, Reus added the conversion from out wide.

England responded well though, and went up a man when France lost flanker Esteban Capilla to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle.

With the numerical advantage, England struck, and it came through their Bath man Harris. From a five-metre scrum, they went to the backs and slick handling opened up the space with Cassius Cleaves offloading for the full-back to dive over on the right. Harris picked himself up and added the extras to cut the deficit further.

France’s powerful pack hit back though, loosehead prop Louis Penverne crashing over from close range for their third try.

And France brought up the bonus point with seven minutes remaining, replacement Mathis Castro Ferreira getting over before Cyriac Guilly got a fifth with the final play.

Teams

England U20

Starting

1. Archie McArthur (Gloucester), 2. Finn Theobald-Thomas (Gloucester), 3. Tim Hoyt (Leicester Tigers), 4. Robert Carmichael (Leicester Tigers), 5. Lewis Chessum (C) (Leicester Tigers), 6. Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers), 7. Tristan Woodman (Sale Sharks), 8. Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs), 9. Charlie Bracken (Saracens), 10. Monty Bradbury (London Irish), 11. Josh Hathaway (Gloucester), 12. Rekeiti Ma'asi-White (Sale Sharks), 13. Joe Jenkins (Bristol Bears), 14. Tobias Elliott (Saracens), 15. Sam Harris (Bath Rugby).

Replacements

16. Calum Scott (London Irish), 17. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), 18. Afolabi Fasogbon (London Irish), 19. Harry Browne (Harlequins), 20. Joshua Manz (Leicester Tigers), 21. Nye Thomas (Sale Sharks), 22. Benjamin Waghorn (Harlequins), 23. Cassius Cleaves (Harlequins).

France U20

Starting

1. Penverne, 2. Jouvin, 3. Affane, 4. Nouchi, 5. Tuilagi, 6. Jegou, 7. Capilla, 8. Gazzotti, 9. Jauneau, 10. Reus, 11. Drouet, 12. Gailleton (C), 13. Depoortere, 14. Bielle Biarrey, 15. Ferte.

Replacements

16. Lacombre, 17. Tabarot, 18. Julien, 19. Guilly, 20. Liufau, 21. Castro Ferreira, 22. Carbonneau, 23. Costes.