England U19 were beaten 35-22 in a thrilling game against France on Saturday at the Stade Jules Ladoumègue in Massy.
It was sweet revenge for France, who have been well beaten this year by both England U18 and England U20, with both U19 teams containing plenty of players from both of those two age-grade sides.
France U19 took an 18-3 lead into the half time break, with England’s only points coming through former Moulton College fly half, now with Northampton Saints, James Grayson.
The second half was a slightly different story, with England actually winning it 19-17 thanks to tries from England U18 and Sedbergh number 8 Sam Moore, Worcester 6th form College second row Ted Hill, who has now appeared for England U18, U19, and U20 in 2017, and Harlequins’ Dino Lamb-Cona, who starred for Cranleigh and England U18 last year.
Speaking to www.englandrugby.com after the game, Player Pathway Coach Peter Walton, who took charge of the U19s for this one-off game, said:
“Nobody likes to lose, however we have all learnt a lot from this game and it has been very worthwhile. The players have really enjoyed the experience and I think they can take a lot of credit from how they performed in the second half, it is how we want them to play and they really showed their quality.”
France U19 35-22 England U19
England U19 XV:
15 Ben Loader (London Irish)
14 Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins)
13 Matt Williams (London Irish)
12 Jacob Umaga (Wasps)
11 Levi Davis (Hartpury College)
10 James Grayson (Northampton Saints)
9 Rory Brand (London Irish)
1 Alex Seville (Gloucester)
2 Henry Walker (Gloucester)
3 Joseph Morris (Worcester Warriors)
4 Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors)
5 Josh Williams (Newcastle Falcons)
6 Dino Lamb-Cona (Harlequins)
7 Lewis Wilson (Yorkshire Carnegie)
8 Sam Moore (Sale Sharks)
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre (Bath), 17 Toby Trinder (Exeter Chiefs), 18 Ciaran Knight (Gloucester), 19 Elliott Ward (Yorkshire Carnegie), 20 Will Porter (Wasps), 21 Charlie Wright (Exeter Chiefs), 22 Elliott Obatoyinbo (Saracens), 23 Nick David (Worcester Warriors).
