The second game of the Tri-Nations tournament in Paris at the French National Rugby Centre, Marcoussis, saw England U18 Clubs & Schools go down 30-22 to Ireland U18 Clubs.

Uppingham’s Tommy Bell, Epsom College’s Charlie Dockery, and Oaklands College’s Alex Brown were all on the score sheet, however the Ireland side, who included a number of English based players such as KES Bath’s Hugh Sloan and Solihull’s Kieran Joyce, were simply to strong as they avenged their opening day defeat to France.

The result means that if France U18 A beat England’s side on Sunday (a 12.30 kick off), then the French side will win the tournament, while and English victory will intriguingly leave all three sides with one victory and one defeat.

Speaking after the game, England’s Head Coach, Dave Reed, said:

 “It was a very open-ended contest and towards the end we were really pushing them hard, but we couldn’t quite get over the line and, unfortunately, we gave away too many penalties.”

“We had a French referee and it was the first time that most of the players had players had played with a foreign referee but that it was great experience for them and part of education process that goes with playing international rugby.”

“We will give the players a day off on Thursday and we are really looking forward to getting back on the training paddock on Friday ahead of our match against France Under 18 A on Sunday.”

England Under 18 Clubs and Schools XV:

15 Charlie Dockery (Epsom College) 

14 Michael Ledger (St Benedict’s, Ealing) 

13 Conor Bullivant (Moulton College) 

12 Tom Morgan (Stonyhurst College) 

11 James Neal (Hartpury College) 

10 Harry Shepherd (Moulton College) 

9 Cameron Lee-Everton (Moulton College)

1 Adam Brocklebank (Myerscough College) 

2 Owen Griffiths (Moulton College) 

3 Jay Tyack (Bryanston School) 

4 Tom Bell (Uppingham School) 

5 Adam Thresher (Judd School) 

6 Jonny Coser (Barnard Castle, captain) 

7 Liam Parfitt (Rishworth) 

8 Alex Brown (Oaklands College)

Replacements: 16 Locryn Williams (Truro School) 
17 Charlie Brown (Southend HS) 
18 Josh Waller (Peterborough Regional College) 
19 Michael Dewar (Abingdon School) 
20 Dale Lemon (Cleeve School) 
21 Charlie Dunbar (Stamford School)

Ireland U18 Clubs XV

15. Ronan Wallace (Mullingar RFC/Leinster)

14. Joe White (Clonakilty RFC/Munster)

13. Josh Daly (Bristol RFC/Exile)

12. Kieran Joyce (Silhillians RFC/Exile)

11. Peter Howard (Cill Dara RFC/Leinster)

10. Brett Connon (Newcastle Falcon/Exile)

9. Andrew Feeney (Suttonians RFC/Leinster)

1. Philip Poillot (Clonakilty RFC/Munster)

2. Adam McBurney (Randalstown RFC/Ulster)

3. Ben Betts (Young Munster RFC/Munster)

4. Hugh Sloan (Bath RFC/Exile)

5. Sean O’Leary (Midleton RFC/Munster)

6. Matthew Cosgrove (Sligo RFC/Connacht)

7. Conor Farrell (Navan RFC/Leinster)

8. Neil Reilly (Ardee RFC/Leinster, captain)

Replacements: 16. Tadgh McElroy (Dundalk RFC/Leinster)
17. Vakhtang Abdaladze (Coolmine RFC/Leinster)
18. Jake Byrne (Northampton Saints/Exile)
19. Josh Barnes (Tralee RFC/Munster)
20. Conor Hand (Navan RFC/Leinster)
21. Cameron Fulton (Coleraine RFC/Ulster)
22. Ciaran Frawley (Skerries RFC/Leinster)
23. Brian Fanning (Bruff RFC/Munster).