England U20 won the U20 6 Nations with a 24-11 victory over France at Brighton’s Amex Stadium on Friday night.

The game was effectively a Championship final, with the winner guaranteed to take the 6 Nations spoil, but it was a two try performance that saw England claim victory in front of twelve and a half thousand spectators.

France actually led 11-6 at half time through a Fabien Sanconnie try and two Thomas Ramos penalties, with Bath’s former Bryanston fly half Rory Jennings giving England their six.

Jennings was at it again early in the second half, nudging England to a 12-11 lead with two more penalties, adding to what would finish as a decisive fourteen-point haul.

England’s opening score came through the young Peter Symond’s starlets Joe Marchant, who collected a Stuart Townsend chargedown to score another championship try before soon after Saracens’ George Perkins collected an offload from Sam Skinner after Yorkshire Carnegie’s Jack Walker, who has captained the club at just 18, made a big bust through the French defence.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Jon Callard said:

“I’m extremely proud of all of the players and the management. It was a challenging game – France were extremely well drilled – but the players fronted up in the second half and ultimately deserved that win. We didn’t get going in the first 40 but we kept in the game and kicked on well. It’s great to win and to lift the trophy and it’s just reward for their efforts.”

“We’re half way through our season with the junior world cup coming up in June, and we’re looking forward to heading out to Italy to defend our trophy. We have a talented group of players and a huge amount of credit must go to the clubs and the academies who put a lot of work into their guys.”

Captain and anther former Bryanston man, Charlie Ewels, said:

 “It’s an unbelievable feeling to lift the trophy. Last year we missed out on it and that hurt, so to come here and put in a second half performance like that was really pleasing.”

“We knew that it would be a challenge and huge respect to France who were very good from minute one to 80. We had to address a few things at the break but thankfully we did and came through to get the win.”

Meanwhile man of the match and former Brighton College and England U18 captain, James Chisholm, also spoke of his pride:

“I’m so proud of all of the guys. It’s an awesome feeling to win this – we made it hard for ourselves, losing against Wales in that opening game, but we regrouped and came back really well. For me, as a local guy, to come here in front of an amazing crowd and to get the win is pretty special and will definitely live long in the memory.”

Elsewhere Scotland beat Ireland 17-10 to secure third place in the Championship, just behind England and France with three wins from their five games. Wales too finished on three wins and two losses after a 23-21 victory over Italy, but finished behind Scotland on points difference.

What this championship has certainly shown is how closely matched the teams are. England lost to Wales but defeated everyone else, while despite beating England, Wales lost to Scotland, who themselves beat an Irish side that had beaten France. With June’s Junior World Championship in mind, it certainly suggest that the 6 Nations sides ought to all feel they stand a chance of real progress.

U20 6 Nations Results:

England 24 France 11

Italy 21-23 Wales

Scotland 17-10 Ireland

Teams:

England

15 Aaron Morris (Saracens)

14 George Perkins (Saracens)

13 Tom Fowlie (London Irish)

12 Joe Marchant (Harlequins)

11 Howard Packman (Northampton Saints)

10 Rory Jennings (Bath Rugby)

9 James Mitchell (Sale Sharks)

1 Sebastian Adeniran-Olule (Harlequins)

2 Jack Walker (Yorkshire Carnegie)

3 Paul Hill (Yorkshire Carnegie)

4 Kieran Treadwell (Harlequins)

5 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, captain)

6 Charlie Beckett (Leicester Tigers)

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 Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs)

21 Stuart Townsend (Exeter Chiefs)

22 Tom Howe (Wasps Rugby)

23 Piers O’Conor (Wasps Rugby)

Ireland

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

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

5 – Alex Thompson (QUB/Ulster)

6 – Josh Murphy (UCD/Leinster)

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

8 – Lorcan Dow (QUB/Ulster)

16 – Adam McBurney (Ballymena/Ulster)

17 – Michael Lagan (Ballymena/Ulster)

18 – Oisin Heffernan (Terenure/Leinster)

19 – Jack Dawn (UCD/Leinster)

20 – Stephen McVeigh (Buccaneers/ Connacht)

21 – Conor Young (QUB/Ulster)

22 – Joey Carbery (UCD/Leinster)

23 – Jacob Stockdale (QUB/ Ulster)  

Scotland

15. Ruairi Howarth (Edinburgh Rugby/Gala)

14. Ben Robbins (Edinburgh Rugby/Watsonians)

13. Tom Galbraith (Melrose)

12. Patrick Kelly (Le Parc)

11. Alec Coombes (London Scottish)

10. Rory Huthchinson (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. Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks)

5. Lewis Carmichael (Melrose)

6. Neil Irvine-Hess (Melrose)

7. Ally Miller (Edinburgh Rugby/Watsonians)

8. Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby/Boroughmuir) (c)

Replacements

16. Ross Graham (Hawick)

17. Dan Elkington (Watsonians)

18. Gary Robertson (Gala)

19. Andrew Davidson (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks)

20. Ruairi Knott (Melrose)

21. Ben Vellacott (Gloucester/Hartpury College)

22. Archie Russell (Stirling County)

23. Richard Galloway (Birmingham University)

Wales

Joe Gage (Ospreys); Joshua Adams (Scarlets), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Garyn Smith (Blues), Rhys Williams (Leicester Tigers); Jarrod Evans (Blues), Kieran Hardy (Scarlets); Luke Garrett (Dragons), Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Dillon Lewis (Blues), Joe Davies (Dragons), Rory Thornton (capt, Ospreys), Harrison Keddie (Dragons) Ollie Griffiths (Dragons), Jon Fox (Ospreys)

Replacements: Liam Belcher (Blues), Keagan Bale (Dragons), Joe Jones (Blues), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Jordan Viggers (Blues), Owen Davies (Drgaons), Daniel Jones (Scarlets), Barney Nightingale (Dragons).