Disappointing start for England U20 in Scotland

Feb 6 • General News, International, Six Nations • 1476 Views • Comments Off on Disappointing start for England U20 in Scotland

England’s defence of their U20 Six Nations Championship title got off to a disappointing start, losing 24-6 to Scotland at Cumbernauld.

Scotland led 12-6 at the break with tries from full back Blair Kinghorn in the corner and Murray McCallum under the posts.

Joe Simmonds kicked two penalties for England – who also lost captain Jack Walker to the sin bin on the stroke of half time.

The hosts then scored 12 unanswered points as forwards Scott Cummings and Matt Smith both bundled over while Kinghorn added to his first-half conversion to take his personal tally to nine.

It was a first ever victory over England for Scotland’s U20 side who had failed to win in 11 previous attempts and was also the first time they had won four games in a row at that level.

The scrum was a huge area of success for England on an otherwise disappointing night and Head Coach Jon Callard said his side were guilty of not playing to their strengths.

“Scotland were hungry and credit to them for the way they played – they were committed and forced errors,” he said.

“We had a lot of possession but they capitalised on our mistakes and the more the game went on, the more we chased it, and the more Scotland fed off that.

“I thought our scrum was excellent and we should have played on that more.  Our line out was also winning us good ball but our driving play wasn’t where it should be and we were too often disjointed.

“I’ve got great belief in this young group of players. England have been in this situation before and bounced back and now we need to see this as an opportunity to do that again. We need to dust ourselves off, regroup and move forwards into the rest of the Championship.”

England U20 v Scotland U20:

15. Mathew Protheroe (Gloucester Rugby)*
14. George Perkins (Saracens)
13. Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
12. Charlie Thacker (Leicester Tigers)
11. Ollie Thorley (Gloucester Rugby)*
10. Joe Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)*
9. Max Green (Yorkshire Carnegie)*

1. Tom West (Wasps)
2. Jack Walker (Yorkshire Carnegie)
3. Will Stuart (Wasps)*
4. Huw Taylor (Worcester Warriors)*
5. Stan South (Harlequins)*
6. Archie White (Harlequins)*
7. Josh Bainbridge (Yorkshire Carnegie)
8. Callum Chick (Newcastle Falcons)*

Replacements:

16. Jack Singleton (Worcester Warriors)*
17. Jake Pope (Sale Sharks)*
18. Billy Keast (Exeter Chiefs)*
19. Andrew Kitchener (Worcester Warriors)*
20. Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby)*
21. Jamie Shillcock (Worcester Warriors)*
22. Sam Aspland-Robinson (Harlequins)*
23. Taylor Prell (Yorkshire Carnegie)*

*Players capped for the first time in this game

U20 Six Nations:

Scotland 24 – 6 England
Friday 5 February (8pm)
Broadwood Stadium, Glasgow Available to view live on englandrugby.com

v Italy
Friday 12 February (7.10pm local time)
Stadio Pacifici, San Dona’ Di Piave

v Ireland
Friday 26 February (6.05pm)
Kingston Park, Newcastle
Tickets are available here: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/details/event.aspx?itemref=2863

v Wales
Friday 11 March (7.45pm)
Ashton Gate, Bristol
Tickets are available here: http://tickets.bristol-sport.co.uk/categories/bristolrugbyhome

v France
Friday 18 March (6.45pm local time)
Stade du Hameau, Pau

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