England power past Wales in World Rugby U20 Championship
England U20 Men beat Wales 51-13 in their fifth place semi-final at the World Rugby U20 Championship.
A penalty try and efforts from Campbell Ridl, Archie McParland (2), Josh Bellamy, Jack Bracken and Nick Lilley got the job done in at Viadana’s Stadio Luigi Zaffanella. Mark Mapletoft’s men will now meet either Italy or Australia in the fifth place play-off on Saturday.
Wales fly half Harri Wilde struck two penalties inside the opening 15 minutes, a result of his team's dominance at the breakdown, as England looked flustered early on.
The men in white looked to have bounced back through a smart Will Knight try on the 22-minute mark, only for it to be disallowed due to a dangerous clear out at the preceding ruck, for which prop Ollie Streeter was shown a yellow card - later upgraded to a 20-minute red.
England came into the match boasting the highest lineout success rate of any team in this year’s World Rugby U20 Championship at 91% - and it was the catalyst behind their opening try - as hooker Kepu Tuipolotu dived over from a dominant rolling maul. But a resulting scrap led to referee Peter Martin awarding it a penalty try, with Nick Thomas receiving a yellow card.
Sion Davies crossed for Wales’ first try with half hour gone in the game, but England responded instantly, reclaiming the kick off and spreading the ball wide to Ridl, as the Exeter Chief duly cantered over the line.
Then, on the stroke of half-time an uncontested 40-metre lineout saw Ben Coen receive quick service, before the fly half took the ball to the line and lifted a pass inside to Ridl who broke through. He squared up his opposite man and found the tracking McParland with another inside pass, and the scrum half sprinted over the whitewash to make it 17-13 at the break.
England scored their fourth try 14 minutes into the resumption, as another successful lineout set up a powerful rolling maul 10 metres from the Welsh line, and after two phases Coen zipped a pass into the path of fullback Bellamy to dot down. The fly half’s extras opened up an 11-point gap.
Bracken made a world-class finish as the clock passed the hour mark, after collecting a probing kick that bounced into his stride, the winger collected and grounded in style to claim his fifth try of the tournament. Coen’s conversion made it 31-13, and moments later McParland got his second - England’s sixth - as the defending champions began to dominate.
Frustration began to show for Wales as Ryan Jones was sent to the sin bin for not releasing on the ground, and two quick-fire penalties from the boot of Coen was followed by a late converted Lilley try, rounding off a comprehensive 51-13 win.
Replacements
Latest England U20 Men news
