England U18 made it two wins from two in the U18 Five Nations Festival as they beat Scotland U18 45-24, condemning the Scots to a third loss from their three Festival games.

It followed England’s 15-12 over Ireland U18 on the opening day, with England’s third and final game set to come against Wales on Wednesday.

John Fletcher’s U18 side led 33-3 at the break thanks to tries from Tonbridge’s Ben Earl, Wellington College’s Ben Loader, Cranleigh’s Dino Lamb-Cona, and a brace from Trinity’s Gabriel Ibitoye, along with four conversions from Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth fly half Jacob Umaga, who moved from inside centre to fly half for this one.

Scotland improved vastly in the second half though, Ben Earl grabbed his second of the game to extend England’s lead to 38-3, but from there Scotland started to exert some real pressure of their own.

That pressure was quickly rewarded with a try for Scotland skipper and inside centre Cameron Hutchison, with winger Ben Appleson converting, to add to his first half penalty, making the scores 38-10.

Within ten minutes that score became 38-17 as Harry Warr strolled under the posts for Scotland, with Appleson again converting. However England were quickly back on the gas, scoring a try through Denstone College winger Levi Davis, with Moulton’s James Grayson converting for a 45-17 advantage.

Scotland had the final say of the game though, scoring a third try through Callum Cruikshank, with Appleson again converting to leave the final score at 45-24.

Speaking to www.scottishrugby.org after the game, Scotland U18 Head Coach Ally Donaldson said:

“A lot of players have put their hands up to move on further in the game in Scotland and they will all be a lot better for this experience. It’s the biggest learning experience these guys will have ever had. To play three games at that level, with such a short turnaround is hard going.”

“We scored three tries today and could possibly have scored one or two more. The effort from the boys was outstanding and we ended up winning the second-half. They have been an outstanding group to work with and have improved since we started working with them a few months ago and they can all be proud of their efforts.”

The other U18 5 Nations game of the day saw Ireland fall to a surprising defeat against Italy, 22-17.

Full Time: England U18 45-24 Scotland U18

England U18 XV:

15 Gabriel Ibitioye (Trinity)

14 Levi Davis (Denstone College)

13 Olie Morris (New Hall)

12 Tom Parton (Wellington College)

11 Ben Loader (Wellington College)

10 Jacob Umaga (Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)

9 Ben White (Leicester Grammar)

1 Jarod Leat (St Paul’s Catholic College)

2 Henry Walker (Bromsgrove)

3 Joseph Morris (KES Aston)

4 Sam Lewis (Denstone College)

5 Nick Isiekwe (Haileybury)

6 Ben Earl (Tonbridge)

7 Ben Curry (Oundle)

8 Dino Lamb-Cona (Craneligh)

Replacements

16 Beck Cutting (Bromsgrove)

17 Alex Seville (Hartpury College)

18 Ciaran Knight (St Peter’s, Gloucester)

19 Josh Williams (Hartlepool 6th form College)

20 Tom Curry (Oundle)

21 Rory Brand (Wellington College)

22 James Grayson (Moulton College)

23 Sam Yawayawa (Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)

Scotland U18 XV:

15 Stafford McDowall

14 Rory McMichael

13 Fraser Dingwall

12 Cameron Hutchison

11 Ben Appleson

10 Grant Hughes

9 Charlie Gowling

1 Ross Dunbar

2 Paul Cairncross

3 Euan McLaren

4 Archie Erskine

5 Ruairi Campbell

6 Andrew Horne

7 Callum Cruikshank

8 Dan Marek

U18 5 Nations Festival Schedule:

England 15-12 Ireland

Wales 31-30 Scotland

Ireland 43-0 Scotland

Wales 24-9 Italy

Italy 21-17 Ireland

England 45-24 Scotland

England A v Italy – St Helen’s, 6th April, 17.15

Wales v England – St Helen’s, 6th April, 19.30