France beat England to win their first U20 world title

ENGLAND U20 25 33

England were last night beaten in the final of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship for the second successive year, losing out 33-25 to France.

Stand-off Louis Carbonel kicked seven penalties and a conversion to lead the hosts to victory in Beziers in the south of France, backed up by tries from Cameron Woki and Adrien Seguret.

England, defeated by New Zealand at this stage in 2017, were outplayed for much of the match. Steve Bates’ side trailed 14-8 at the break, with France scoring a try through Woki and Carbonel contributing nine points.

A Marcus Smith penalty and Jordan Olowofela’s try took England to within six points at half-time.

Smith then kicked a further penalty in the second half, Joe Heyes touched down and Olowofela crossed the line for a second time to give England’s youngsters real hope of securing victory.

But Carbonel kicked four more penalties and Seguret touched down to give France their first-ever Under-20 world title.