A 26-11 win for England U20 saw them remain in the hunt for the U20 6 Nations title, with their match against France next week effectively a Championship final.

The two are level on points at the top of the table after France beat Italy 40-10, they are two points clear of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, level in third, fourth and fifth respectively.

England’s win came thanks to tries from ex Lymm High School scrum half, Prince Henry’s old boy Paul Hill, and Brighton College old boy James Chisholm, as well as eleven points from the boot of Bryanston old boy Rory Jennings.

Man of the match Chisholm said after the game:

“We’re pleased to get the win but massive credit to Scotland, they came at us and gave it a real go. They’ve got some talented players in their side and caused us problems. We didn’t really get going in the second half, so we’ll look to address that next week.”

Scotland posed problems of their own through, scoring a try though winger Ben Robbins and two penalties from the boot of George Horne.

England Head Coach Jon Callard acknowledged as much after the game;

 “It was very much a game of two halves. I felt like we did very well in the first 40, we pinned Scotland back and scored some nice tries. But credit to them, they came back at us in the second and caused us problems.”

“We come away from the game a little disappointed – of course it’s great to get the win, but we always want to put in a good performance and I think we left a bit out there today. But we get together on Monday and will prepare for what will be a huge game against France in Brighton.”

Ireland meanwhile lost their second game in a row after last week’s defeat to England, falling 19-12 to Wales, who have clawed their way back having lost their last two games.

All eyes will be on that Championship decider next weekend between England and France though in Brighton.

Results:

England U20 26-11 Scotland U20

Italy U20 10-40 France U20

Wales U20 19-12 Ireland U20

Teams:

England U20 XV

15 Aaron Morris (Saracens)

14 George Perkins (Saracens)

13 Joe Marchant (Harlequins)

12 Nick Tompkins (Saracens)

11 Howard Packman (Northampton Saints)

10 Rory Jennings (Bath Rugby)

9 James Mitchell (Sale Sharks)

1 Seb Adeniran-Olule (Harlequins)

2 Jack Walker (Yorkshire Carnegie)

3 Paul Hill (Yorkshire Carnegie)

4 Kieran Treadwell (Harlequins)

5 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, captain)

6 Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs)

7 Will Owen (Leicester Tigers)

8 James Chisholm (Harlequins)

Replacements:

16 Jack Innard (Exeter Chiefs)

17 Owen Hills (Leicester Tigers)

18 Ciaran Parker (Sale Sharks)

19 Joe Batley (Gloucester Rugby)

20 Charlie Beckett (Leicester Tigers)

21 Stuart Townsend (Exeter Chiefs)

22 Tom Fowlie (London Irish)

23 Piers O’Conor (Wasps Rugby)

Scotland XV

15 Ruairi Howarth (Edinburgh Rugby/Gala)

14 Ben Robbins (Edinburgh Rugby/Watsonians)

13 Archie Russell (Stirling County)

12 Patrick Kelly (Le Parc)

11 Alec Coombes (London Scottish)

10 Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints)

9 George Horne (Glasgow Hawks)

1 Murray McCallum (Aberdeen Grammar Rugby)

2 Sam James (Wasps)

3 Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks)

4 Andrew Davidson (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks)

5 Lewis Carmichael (Melrose)

6 Neil Irvine-Hess (Melrose)

7 Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby, captain)

8 Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby/Boroughmuir)

Replacements

16 Ross Graham (Hawick)

17 Dan Elkington (Watsonians)

18 Jack Owlett (Exeter Chiefs/ Exeter University)

19 Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks)

20 Ally Miller (Edinburgh Rugby/Watsonians)

21 Ben Vellacott (Gloucester/Hartpury College)

22 Tom Galbraith (Melrose)

23 Ruaraidh Smith (Currie)

Ireland U20:

15 – Billy Dardis (UCD/ Leinster)

14 – Ciaran Gaffney (Galwegians/Connacht)

13 – Garry Ringrose (UCD/ Leinster)

12 – Sam Arnold (Ballynahinch/Ulster)

11 – Stephen Fitzgerald (Shannon/ Munster)

10 – Ross Byrne (UCD / Leinster)

9 – Nick McCarthy (UCD/ Leinster) (Capt)

1 – Jeremy Loughman (UCD / Leinster)

2 – Zack McCall (QUB/Ulster)

3 – Oisin Heffernan (Terenure/Leinster)

4 – Cian Romaine (Buccaneers/Connacht)

5 – Josh Murphy (UCD/Leinster)

6 – Nick Timoney (St. Mary’s/Leinster)

7 – Conor Oliver (St. Mary’s/ Leinster)

8 – Lorcan Dow (QUB/Ulster)

16 – Adam McBurney (Ballymena/Ulster)

17 – Andrew Porter (UCD/ Leinster)

18 – Conan O’Donnell (Sligo/NUIG/Connacht)

19 – David O’Connor (St. Mary’s/Leinster)

20 – Stephen McVeigh (Buccaneers/ Connacht)

21 – Conor Young (QUB/Ulster)

22 – Joey Carbery (UCD/Leinster)

23 – Jacob Stockdale (QUB/ Ulster)

Wales U20

15 – Joe Gage (Ospreys)

14 – Joshua Adams (Scarlets)

13 – Owen Watkin (Ospreys)

12 – Garyn Smith (Blues)

11 – Elis Wyn-Benham (Blues)

10 – Jarrod Evans (Blues)

9 – Tom Williams (Blues)

1 – Luke Garrett (Dragons)

2 – Ryan Elias (Scarlets)

3 – Dillon Lewis (Blues)

4 – Joe Davies (Dragons)

5 – Rory Thornton (capt, Ospreys)

6 – Harrison Keddie (Dragons)

7 – Ollie Griffiths (Dragons)

8 – Jon Fox (Ospreys)

16 – Liam Belcher (Blues)

17 – Keagan Bale (Dragons)

18 – Alex Jeffries (Dragons)

19 – Adam Beard (Ospreys)

20 – Jordan Viggers (Blues)

21 – Kieran Hardy (Scarlets)

22 – Daniel Jones (Scarlets)

23 – Barney Nightingale (Dragons)