England U20 beat France in Bath for second win
England U20 Men made it two wins from two in the 2025 U20 Six Nations thanks to a 27-10 win over France. Tries from Kane James and Dom Hanson, as well as a penalty try and eight points from the boot of Ben Coen saw England claim victory, while France's points came from a Baptiste Britz try and Diego Jurd's boot.
With the rainy conditions in Bath playing their part, it took eight minutes for the first chance of the game as a short box kick from France’s Thibaut Motassi was regathered by Oliver Cowie. France recycled but spilled the ball, allowing England to relieve the pressure.
However, it was England who opened the scoring three minutes later thanks to James. A sweeping backs move on half way allowed Angus Hall to offload and Jack Bracken scooped up the ball before being brought down in the French 22. England reloaded quickly and after a handful of phases James crashed over, with Coen converting.
From the restart the ball was knocked on by France and England won a penalty from the scrum. They kicked to touch before Lucas Friday's pinpoint box kick was well chased as the English harried their opposition, setting the tone in defence.
With almost a quarter of the game played, Les Bleuets got back in the game as they found themselves in the English 22 and won a penalty for not rolling away, which Jurd converted.
Soon after, Friday’s kick forced an error from Cowie and the home side won a penalty from the resulting lineout. Tom Burrow elected to kick for touch and relentless carrying drew another penalty from five metres out. They again chose to go for the lineout, this time setting up a driving maul that powered over for a penalty try and yellow card for Britz.
France’s discipline continued to fall the wrong side of referee Ben Breakspear’s whistle and Coen added an extra three points to make it 17-3 on the half hour mark.
With Britz back on the pitch, France won successive penalties and chose to go for touch. They worked infield through their forwards and eventually powered over, with Britz the beneficiary, while Jurd converted to close the gap to seven points heading into half-time.
Ralph McEachran won a penalty seconds into the second half, but England couldn’t capitalise as they were penalised metres from the French line. However, a few minutes later, Friday’s kick to the corner pressured Xan Mousques into conceding a penalty, but England knocked on at the lineout.
From a deep French kick, Hall mixed it up with a short, shallow kick and his chase forced a knock on. The forwards provided a strong platform and an excellent break from Bracken allowed Nick Lilley to burst into the 22. England created space out wide for Henry Pollock to go through a half gap, but Hall was unable to gather his offload.
With just under half an hour to play, replacement Edouard-Junior Jabea Njocke was sin-binned for playing the nine, allowing Coen to slot his second penalty to make it 20-10.
Five minutes later, the visitors conceded a penalty despite being in the English 22 and Pollock cleverly tapped to make a break. He was brought down by Sialevailea Tolofua, who had not retreated 10 metres and was sent to join Jabea Njocke in the sin bin.
With France back to a full complement they launched a dangerous attack and won a lineout in the 22 five minutes from full-time, but England stole the ball and cleared.
The defence held firm for the final few minutes and forced the French to spill the ball. Coen kicked ahead before the ball was worked to Nick Lilley, who offloaded inside for Hanson to score on his competitive U20 debut. Coen converted to seal a 27-10 victory and, in doing so, deny their opponents a losing bonus point.
Unbeaten so far in the 2025 U20 Six Nations, England U20 are back in action on Friday 21 February as they face Scotland at Newcastle's Kingston Park.
Match highlights
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