England U20s thrash Welsh counterparts
GRAND Slam champions England made it two wins from two in the U20s Six Nations with a five-try win over Wales but head coach Steve Bates insists there is more to come.
After Harri Morgan’s early try for Wales, scores from captain Ben White and debutant Cameron Redpath gave England an 18-5 lead at the break at Kingston Park.
Two tries in two secondhalf minutes, from Gabriel Ibitoye and Jordan Olowofela, sealed the bonus point before Rio Dyer pulled a score back for Wales.
The hosts would have the final say, though, as flanker Aaron Hinkley went over in the closing moments from short range to seal victory.
Bates said: “It was a pretty comprehensive win, but there’s still more to come, we probably could have created more, we could have been more dominant.
“I’m very happy with the performance but we cannot be complacent; we have to strive to be better. We have to be a little more clinical, we made a few mistakes and missed a few opportunities to exploit space, but when you win with a scoreline like that it gives you confidence moving forward.”
Redpath – son of former Scotland captain Bryan – was ecstatic after his dream debut.
“We’ve been working hard over the last few weeks and to perform like we have – especially the forwards who put in a big shift to finish off is great,” he said.
“We cannot dwell on negatives too much. We have to look at how well we performed first and then tomorrow we can look at the negatives as we go into the break week.”
And fly-half James Grayson – another with a famous father in former England No.10 Paul – also credited the pack.
“The forwards did great, gave us front-foot ball and corners for us to kick into and then we squeezed and kept that pressure on,” he said. “I’m immensely proud and humbled, a great group of lads and it’s nice to go out there perform like that and get a win.”
Wales struck first from close range through No.9 Morgan after sustained pressure on the English line.
Grayson reduced the deficit moments later, after England were rewarded a scrum penalty 30 metres out. And on 20 minutes his half back partner White registered England’s first try, almost identical to his Welsh counterpart’s score.
After playing a penalty advantage, England broke down the left flank through substitute Matt Williams but he was brought down just short of the line. The ball was recycled quickly for White to capitalise, although Grayson’s conversion was unsuccessful.
The Northampton Saint was on target with his second penalty, though, stretching England’s lead to six points, before Redpath scored England’s second try.
It came after a neat backline move which allowed Ibitoye – who was a late injury replacement for Ben Loader – to slice through the Welsh defence before off-loading to Redpath.
Grayson added the extras to make it 18-5.
English momentum continued into the second half as Ibitoye broke from the halfway line shortly after the whistle, beating four Welsh defenders to canter over for England’s third try.
And the bonus-point score came moments later in the 46th minute, courtesy of Olowofela, after neat passing from the back division put the wing in space to sprint unopposed to the line and Grayson hit his third successful conversion.
Dyer scored a consolation try for Wales with six minutes left on the clock as he rose highest to collect a cross field kick from centre Callum Carson.
But England finished strongly with a debut try in the final moments from Hinkley, who was an injury replacement for Tom Willis.