JUNIOR WALLABIES FALL TO ENGLAND U20s IN FINAL POOL MATCH

Jun 13 • General News, International, Junior Rugby, World Rugby Junior Championship • 3898 Views • Comments Off on JUNIOR WALLABIES FALL TO ENGLAND U20s IN FINAL POOL MATCH

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An early red card has cruelled the Junior Wallabies hopes of a clean sweep of their pool at the U20 World Championship in Argentina, with England marching to a 56-33 victory overnight in Santa Fe.

Australia mustered five tries with 14 men on the field, but a rampant England piled on the points after Junior Wallabies number 8 Pat Tafa was sent off for a high tackle inside the opening two minutes.

Having secured a semi-finals berth prior to last night’s defeat, the Australian side now looks forward to a semi-final clash with host nation Argentina in Rosario on Tuesday (18 June, 2am AEST kick off).

Junior Wallabies Head Coach Jason Gilmore said: “We knew that this would be a game that England would front up for and they did.

“It was a tough day at the office to play with 14 men for 78 minutes, however outscoring them 21-14 in the second half really shows the character of the team we have and we’re proud of their efforts.

“We’re now looking forward to playing Argentina in the semi-finals next week.”

England capitalised on the early red card overlap with Fraser Dingwall and Ollie Sleightholme crossing in the quick succession to open up a 14-0 lead.

The Junior Wallabies fought back through Noah Lolesio and Isaac Lucas, who made easy work of the English defence, to close within two points of the English.

But as the half wore on the one-man advantage began to tell as Ted Hill crossed twice, followed by Tom De Glanville and Aaron Hinkley for England to blow the lead out to 42-12 at the break.

Manu Vunipola started the scoring in the second half for England again extending the lead to 49-12.

Gilmore then called on fresh legs from the bench, with Will Harris powering through the English line and crossing for his second try of the tournament.

Aussie Skipper Fraser McReight lead by example and crossed the chalk securing the bonus point for his side, with Carlo Tizzano backing up and diving over to reduce the final margin to 23 points.

Junior Wallabies 33 (Noah Lolesio, Isaac Lucas, Will Harris, Fraser McReight, Carlo Tizzano tries; Will Harrison 3, Ben Donaldson 2 cons) defeated by England 56 (Ted Hill 2, Tom Willis, Fraser Dingwall, Aaron Hinkley, Tom De Glanville, Ollie Sleightholme, Manu Vunipola tries; Josh Hodge 8 cons)

Red Card: Pat Tafa (2^nd min)

Australia Junior Rugby Junior Wallabies U20s