A brilliant night of U20 6 Nations action saw the tournament blown wide open as Scotland beat Wales, while Ireland beat France and England enjoyed a huge win over Italy.

Those results mean that Ireland top the table with two victories, while Scotland, Wales, and England sit behind with one each, while Italy remain winless.

It was an extraordinary comeback from Scotland, who picked up their first 6 Nations win since 2013, and a first v Wales since 2009. At half time Wales had scored four tries to Scotland’s one, however 14 points from George Horne meant that it was only 24-19 to Wales at the break.

Early in the second half it was all Scotland though, as they pulled out from 24-19 behind to 36-27 in front. Wales picked up a late score to leave a frantic few final minutes left on the clock, but the hosts held on for an excellent 36-34 victory.

For Scotland it was the perfect way to bounce back following last week’s defeat to France, while for Wales it was a disappointing comedown following that victory over England last week, but they will feel confident of bouncing back again.

Ireland meanwhile collected a second victory to ensure they stayed top of the table. Both Ireland and France had scored exactly 47 points last weekend so this one was expected to be close.

The first half was reasonably even but Ireland took a 20-10 lead into the break courtesy of tries from wingers Stephen Fitzgerald and Jack Owens.

Two further tries in the second half from full back Billy Dardis and outside centre Garry Ringrose gave the hosts a 37-20 victory, a fine win over an excellent French side, and a victory that gives Ireland the momentum in this U20 6 Nations.

England have a fair bit of momentum too now though, as they hammered Italy 61-0 to bounce back form their opening day defeat to Wales in superb style.

The nine try rout included a hat-trick for the young Harlequins centre, former Peter Symonds pupil, Joe Marchant, and a brace for Northampton Saints winger and 2014 JWC winner, Howard Packman.

In all England ran in five first half scores, one each for Packman and Marchant, as well as tries for Bristol loosehead Ellis Genge, Leicester flanker Will Owen, and former Oaklands Colelge product George Perkins, the Saracens winger.

Four further tries followed in the second half, in what became a torrential rainstorm in Plymouth, slowing the play considerably. Marchant added two to his tally, while Packman added his second, before Leicester’s Jake Farnworth rounded off the scoring with a few minutes left to play. Marchant also added a conversion, while Bath’s former Bryanston School outside half, Rory Jennings, landed seven.

It was the perfect response from England after that disappointing loss to Wales on the opening weekend, and John Callard’s men will now be eyeing a tilt at the Championship, though it looks like they will need to at the very least beat Ireland to do so.

U20 6 Nations Round 2 Results:

Scotland 36-34 Wales

Ireland 37-20 France

England 61-0 Italy

Teams:

Scotland:

15. Ruairi Howarth  14. Ruaraidh Smith  13. Archie Russell  12. Patrick Kelly  11. Alec Coombes  10. Rory Hutchinson  9. George Horne  1. Murray McCallum  2. Ross Graham  3. Zander Fagerson  4. Scott Cummings  5. Lewis Carmichael  6. Neil Irvine-Hess  7. Jamie Ritchie  8. Magnus Bradbury.

Replacements: 16. Jake Kerr  17. Dan Elkington  18. Jack Owlett  19. Andrew Davidson  20. Ally Miller  21. Andrew Manson  22. Tom Galbraith  23. Ben Robbins.

Wales:

15. Dafydd Howells  14. Joshua Adams  13. Owen Watkin  12. Garyn Smith  11. Barney Nightingale  10. Dan Jones  9. Tom Williams  1. Luke Garrett  2. Liam Belcher  3. Dillon Lewis  4. Joe Davies  5. Adam Beard  6. Tom Phillips  7. Ollie Griffiths  8. Harrison Keddie.

Replacements:  16. Torin Myhill  17. Keagan Bale  18. Leon Brown  19. Rory Bartle  20. Jordan Viggers  21. Kieran Hardy  22. James Whittingham  23. Rhys Williams.

Ireland:

15. Billy Dardis  14. Jack Owens  13. Garry Ringrose  12. Sam Arnold  11. Stephen Fitzgerald  10. Ross Byrne  9. Nick McCarthy  1. Jeremy Loughman  2. Zac McCall  3. Oisin Heffernan  4. David O’Connor  5. Alexander Thompson  6. Josh Murphy  7. Rory Moloney  8. Lorcan Dow.

Replacements:  16. Adam McBurney  17. Michael Lagan  18. Conan O’Donnell  19. Cian Romaine  20. Nick Timoney  21. Jack Cullen  22. Joey Carbery  23. Fergal Cleary.

France:

15. Thomas Ramos  14. Arthur Bonneval  13. Elliot Roudil  12. Francois Fontaine  11. Lucas Blanc  10. Lucas Meret  9. Anthony Meric  1. Rodrigue Neti  2. Julien Marchand  3. Michael Simutoga  4. Tristan Labouteley  5. Cyril Cazeaux  6. Sekou Macalou  7. Lucas Bachelier  8. Fabien Sanconnie.

Replacements:  16. Camille Chat  17. Thibault Estorge  18. Quentin Bethune  19. Julien Delannoy  20. Martin Devergie  21. Antoine Dupont  22. Damian Penaud  23. Valentin Saurs.

England:

15. Piers O’Conor  14. George Perkins  13. Joe Marchant  12. Charlie Thacker  11. Howard Packman  10. Rory Jennings  9. Stuart Townsend  1. Ellis Genge  2. Jack Walker  3. Paul Hill  4. Kieran Treadwell  5. Charlie Ewels  6. Charlie Beckett  7. Will Owen  8. James Chisholm.

Replacements:  16. Jake Farnworth  17. Tom West  18. Ciaran Parker  19. Joe Batley  20. Sam Skinner  21. James Mitchell  22. Tom Morton  23. Tom Howe.

Italy:

15. Giacomo De Santis  14. Luca Sperandio  13. Matteo Gabbianelli  12. Enrico Lucchin  11. Tommaso Beraldin  10. Matteo Minozzi  9. Luca Petrozzi  1. Federico Pavesi  2. Luhandre Luus  3. Paulo Buonfiglio  4. Ugo D’Onofrio  5. Davide Fragnito  6. Dennis Bergamin  7. Matteo Archetti  8. Matteo Cornelli.

Replacements:  16. Vincenzo Barbuscia  17. Andrea Cincotto  18. Enjel Makelara  19. Leonard Krumov  20. Jake Polledri  21. Riccardo Raffaele  22. Pietro Lamaro  23. Pierre Bruno.