England U20s undone at the death
By Mark Stevens
22/2/19
England Under-20s were defeated by Wales in Colwyn Bay suffering a 11-10 defeat in their third U20 Six Nations Championship fixture.
It was a second defeat in the tournament for the side following an opening-round loss to Ireland before victory over France.
England led 3-0 at the break through Kieran Wilkinson's penalty in a tight opener. However, two second-half penalties from Cai Evans gave Wales the lead before Exeter Chiefs forward Rus Tuima crashed over late on for England.
Steve Bates’ side looked like they were on course to follow up their victory over France at Sandy Par, but they were undone in stoppage time when Wales claimed victory with a try through Deon Smith.
The first half was a tight, tense affair with both sides guilty of a lack of accuracy in the opposition 22m and despite having the majority of possession, England had just Wilkinson's penalty to show for their efforts in the opening 40 minutes with their scrum a particular area of strength.
Wales were level in the 55th minute with Evans sending over a penalty while Wilkinson missed with his own opportunity to restore the lead soon after. Evans gave Wales the lead with the boot on the hour but England came fighting back.
A Tom de Glanville break in midfield was finished by Tuima and Hodge converted the score.
England thought they had a second try but Connor Doherty's effort was ruled out for an earlier infringement.
Wales won the game with a try in stoppage time as Smith went over in the corner to give Wales victory.
"It’s very disappointing," said head coach Steve Bates. "We felt we created quite a lot of opportunities in the first half but that dominance did not show on the scoreboard.
"We had the try disallowed with two minutes on the clock and then probably made a couple of bad decisions which led to their score but that’s Test match rugby, it’s fine margins that can define games. This is all good experience for these players’ development though and there are a lot disappointed players in the changing room but this defeat does not make them bad players."
England U20s
15. Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons), 14. Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), 13. Connor Doherty (Sale Sharks), 12. Tom de Glanville (Bath Rugby), 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish), 10. Kieran Wilkinson (Sale Sharks), 9. Ollie Fox (Yorkshire Carnegie), 1. Olly Adkins (Gloucester), 2. Nic Dolly (Sale Sharks), 3. Alfie Petch (Exeter Chiefs), 4. Joel Kpoku (Saracens), 5. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), 6. Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs), 7. Aaron Hinkley (Gloucester), 8. Tom Willis (Wasps)
Replacements:
16. Samson Ma'asi (Northampton Saints), 17. Kai Owen (Worcester Warriors), 18. Jack Bartlett (Gloucester Rugby), 19. James Scott (Worcester Warriors), 20. Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs), 21. Sam Maunder (Exeter Chiefs), 22. Manu Vunipola (Saracens), 23. Jack Reeves (Gloucester).
