England Counties U20 kicked off their summer tour with a 19-14 win over Russia U20.

England went behind early on at Moscow’s Slava Stadium but hit back through Alex Goble, with Lewis Dennett converting, before Connor Wilkinson crossed for England’s second.

Russia were spirited though, and came back into the game with a second try to take a 14-12 lead into the half time break.

The second half was a quieter affair, but England’s dominant scrum was enough to seal them the victory as after a series of penalties, the referee ran underneath the sticks to award a penalty try to the visitors.

The hosts will have a chance to avenge the defeat though, the two sides meet again at 17.00 on Wednesday.

Speaking after the game, England Counties U20 Team Manage Paul Vernon said:

“It was a tough match and the Russia U20s side put us under plenty of pressure but the togetherness of this group was evident throughout, it was a good test match where the players demonstrated their qualities both tactically and technically. Most pleasing however was the way in which the substitutions added great momentum at crucial times.”

”We’re already excited about the second test match where we can tweak a few areas of our game and reinforce some of our attacking and defensive principles”

England Counties U20 XV

1 Tommy Phillips

2 Will Scholey

3 Karl Garside

4 Dale Lemon

5 James Apperley

6 Jack Thomas (Captain)

7 Dan Broady

8 Adam Brankley

9 Ben Pointon

10 Lewis Dennett

11 Alex Goble

12 Ellis Rudder

13 Connor Wilkinson

14 James Neal

15 Charlie Venables

Replacements:

16 Ziana Alexis-Montout

17 Alex Post

18 Hayden King

19 Max Berry

20 Kemp Price

21 Jack Harrison

22 Tim Bitirim

23 Harry Sayers