England U20 seal bonus point win against Italy U20
England men U20 scored five tries to defeat Italy 33-24 at The Recreation Ground, Bath in the fourth round of the U20 Six Nations Championship.
England's tries came courtesy of George Timmins, Tom Burrow, Louie Gulley, Angus Hall and Jack Bracken with Josh Bellamy adding eight points from the tee. Italy's scores came from Nelson Casartelli, Alessandro Drago and a brace from Malik Faissal. Roberto Fasti and Edoardo Todaro converted one try each.
Italy got onto the scoreboard first after only eight minutes. Following an Italian line out, a cross-field kick was plucked from the air by Faissal who crashed over the line. A successful conversion from Fasti gave Italy an early seven-point lead.
England responded soon after. Hall rushed past the visitors’ defence, offloading to Timmins who sprinted down the left blindside and flew over the white line to score. A Bellamy conversion leveled proceedings.
Minutes later, following a few phases of play, a crafty offload from Fasti found the hands of Faissal who beat three England defenders to claim his second try. The Italian number 15 was unable to add the extras.
The home side gave Italy no time to enjoy their lead. Hanson's spectacular break through the oppositions defence found the onrushing Burrow who scored under the posts. Bellamy added the extras which gave England a slender two-point advantage.
The 20-minute mark saw England top up their lead. The hosts' third try was forged from a strong driving maul with Gulley - the man who started the move from the proceeding line out - touching down. Bellamy kicked the conversion which pushed their score to 21-12.
The rest of the first half consisted of back-and-forth play, with each side taking turns to dominate attack. Todaro's impeccable break brought his side within metres of the English try line, but a strong defensive effort from Mark Mapletoft's side prevented the visitors from adding to their score before half time.
The second half started with a series of box kicks from both scrum halves before a break from England’s Kane James allowed them to flush the ball away from their defensive 22.
Soon after, referee Lex Weiner handed Bracken a yellow card for a ruck infringement. It came at a dangerous time for the home side with Italy metres from their try line, but England’s impressive defence held off a rolling maul.
At the 55-minute mark, Italy’s attacking efforts finally resulted in a try. A kick to touch from a penalty gave them a line out within reaching distance from the try line. After the ball had travelled the width of the pitch via blue shirts, it found its way to Casartelli who crossed the whitewash, but his effort was unsuccessfully converted.
The four-point difference only lasted one minute as England were able to seal their bonus point. England snatched the loose ball after an Italian knock on and three passes later Hall used his strength to push himself over the line. Bellamy added the extras to a 28-17 lead.
Over half way into the second half and a fifth England try looked promising. Pearson broke the defensive ranks of the opposition and produced a clinical grubber kick to the right corner, but Bracken was unable to control it.
Less than five minutes from full time and Italy matched England's four tries and in doing so, claimed their losing bonus point. Only 10 metres from their try line, their recycled ball from the ruck found Drago whose footwork outsmarted Pearson and added five points to their score. Todaro added the extras.
England did manage to score a fifth try late on which put the result beyond all doubt. With the clock in red, Bracken burst through the opposition's defence and scored. The conversion slid just to the right of the posts as the game ended 33-24.
Match Highlights
Replacements
.png)
