England U18 enjoyed a stunning 64-0 win over Scotland U18 at BT Murrayfield on Sunday.
The game, rearranged at the last minute due to the snow, was shifted from Stirling County RFC to BT Murraryfield, though had to be played behind closed doors as security was not able to be present in great enough numbers.
It was a second defeat in a row for Scotland, who lost narrowly to Wales last time out, while for England it was a determined and impressive display as they scored 10 tries to wipe away the taste of defeat after losing to France last time out.
Scotland featured a number of Exiles in their 23, which meant a number of players were playing against school and club mates. On the blind side flank for Scotland was Sedbergh’s Jack Hill, he was up against schoolmates in England full back Josh Hodge, loosehead Bevan Rodd, and replacements Tom Curtis and Rob Farrar.
Meanwhile at fly half Scotland had SGS Filton College’s Nathan Chamberlain, whose schoolmate Blake Boyland was on the England bench. Similarly Alex Maxwell of Brooksby Melton College was at loosehead for Scotland with his schoolmate George Martin in the second row for England.
England went 26-0 ahead at half time thanks to tries from Cranleigh’s Harry Barlow, Kirkham Grammar School’s Connor Doherty, and a brace from Hartpury College wing Jack Reeves, one of three Hartpury players in the starting fifteen.
The second half saw England cut loose, and the star of the show was Bloxham hooker Alfie Barbeary who secured himself a hat-trick. Exeter College number 8 Rus Tuima added another, with Boyland getting on the scoresheet too, and Jacob Morris, another of the Hartpury contingent, rounding things off. Josh Hodge, meanwhile, ended up with seven converisions in all.
Speaking to www.englandrugby.com after the game, England U18 Head Coach John Fletcher said:
“The players were pretty excited when they found out they were playing at Murrayfield, it’s a big pitch and that suits the way we want to play, we trained well over the past couple of days on an artificial pitch and that prepared us well for this game.”
“This is a new group of players and they are a young squad. The majority of them will go on to the Six Nations festival in Wales and they played well. In attack we caused Scotland problems in lots of different areas and we scored lots of different tries.”
“There are things we will get better at both sides of the ball, but ultimately we want them to express themselves and they did that. We were as good in attack as we were in defence.”
England are next in action on Sunday against Wales U18, while Scotland’s next game is not until 31st March at the U18 Six Nations Festival, where the two sides, England and Scotland, will meet again at Ystrad Mynach for a 12pm kick off.
Full Time: Scotland U18 0-64 England U18
Scotland U18 XV
15 Rufus McLean (Merchiston Castle, captain)
14 Femi Sofolarin (Dulwich College/Harlequins)
13 Ollie Smith (Strathallan)
12 Robbie McCallum (Loretto)
11 Jack Blain (Stewart’s Melville College)
10 Nathan Chamberlain (Bristol/SGS Filton College)
9 Jamie Dobie (Merchiston Castle)
1 Alex Maxwell (Brooksby Melton College/Leicester Tigers)
2 Scott Clelland (Ayr)
3 Dan Gamble (Merchiston Castle/Kelso RFC)
4 James Barker (Gosforth Academy)
5 Kieran Watt (Watsonians)
6 Jack Hill (Sedbergh/Sale Sharks)
7 Archie Smeaton (Yorkshire Carnegie/Hymers College)
8 Cammy Brown (Keslon)
Replacements:
16 Ed Kelman (Stewart’s Melville College)
17 Mak Wilson (Duns)
18 Thomas Jeffrey (Peebles)
19 Allan Ferrie (Newton Stewart)
20 Gavin Wilson (Dumfries Saints)
21 Kristian Kay (Stowe/Wasps)
22 Dan Lancaster (Yorkshire Carnegie/Bishop Burton College)
23 Charlie Hudson (St Peter’s, York)
England U18 XV:
15 Josh Hodge (Sedbergh & Newcastle Falcons)
14 Harry Barlow (Cranleigh & Harlequins)
13 Connor Doherty (Kirkham GS & Sale Sharks)
12 Jack Reeves (Hartpury College & Gloucester)
11 Jacob Morris (Hartpury College & Gloucester)
10 Manu Vunipola (Harrow & Saracens)
9 Sam Maunder (Blundell’s & Exeter Chiefs, co-captain)
1 Bevan Rodd (Sedbergh & Sale Sharks)
2 Samson Ma’asi (St Josephs College & Northampton Saints)
3 Cal Ford (Sandbach & Sale Sharks)
4 George Martin (Brooksby Melton College & Leicester Tigers)
5 Will Montgomery (Kirkbie Kendal & Newcastle Falcons)
6 Richard Capstick (Exeter College & Exeter Chiefs, co-captain)
7 JJ Tonks (Hartpury College & Gloucester)
8 Rus Tuima (Exeter College & Exeter Chiefs)
Replacements:
16 Alfie Barbeary (Bloxham & Wasps)
17 Lewis Holsey (Solihull & Worcester Warriors)
18 Jack Bartlett (Gloucester Rugby)
19 Rob Farrar (Sedbergh & Newcastle Falcons)
20 Ted Leatherbarrow (Kirkham GS & Sale Sharks)
21 Blake Boyland (SGS Filton College & Bristol)
22 Tom Curtis (Sedbergh & Sale Sharks)
23 Will Simonds (Henley College & Wasps)
