- Lord’s young players produced a dominant performance to win the Junior World Cup.
- England’s talented young stars dominated the scrums and France were defeated.
- France won 21-13 thanks to a superb performance from England.
England won the Junior World Cup in Cape Town, ending France’s dominance in the annual tournament by using the scrum as a weapon of mass destruction.
Trys from Joe Bailey and Arthur Green and 11 points from Harlequins centre Shaun Carr propelled Mark Mapletoft’s England Under-20s to global glory. It was England’s fourth title and first since 2016, and it was down to pack power at set pieces.
At a time when senior Red Rose head coach Steve Borthwick has announced that unearthing a new generation of strong scrummages is a top priority, it is another timely and encouraging example of the emerging talent in the age ranks.
England, thanks to some excellent props in Sale’s Asher Opoku-Ford-Jour and Gloucester’s Afolabi Fasogbon, dominated the French scrum from start to finish.
This fearsome pair, with the support and co-operation of the rest of Mapletoft’s mighty team, completely dominated their rivals as England won scrum penalty after scrum penalty and used the opportunity to pile on the pressure on France, who were bidding to win a fourth consecutive title.
Instead, England’s Class of 2024 followed in the footsteps of their seniors from 2013, 2014 and 2016 to win the coveted Under-20 award and add to the Six Nations title they won earlier this year.
After a fine performance from Racing 92’s hulking lock Junior Kpok, who watched his club mate and World Cup-winning Springbok captain Siya Kolisi dance with school children in the stands, the RFU will be keen for Kpok to return to the Premiership as soon as possible and be considered for a senior call-up.
Captain and Leicester City promising forward Finn Carnduff lifted the trophy, capping a brilliant England campaign in which they beat Argentina, Fiji and hosts South Africa in the pool stages before beating Ireland 31-20 in the semi-finals.
France had beaten New Zealand’s “Baby Blacks” 55-31 in the quarter-finals and went into the final feeling confident – until they ran into a strong English scrum.
“We used the set pieces to our advantage,” Carnduff said. “It’s unbelievable to be honest with you. It’s amazing. We’re a very special group, we’re brothers for life. To win two trophies together is unbelievable.”
Just three minutes into the match, England made a strong show of intent when their pack pushed back their rivals at the first scrum of the match, setting the tone for how things would play out from there. A penalty for a left-side touch in the ninth minute awarded England an attacking lineout, and their forwards made a commanding drive through the French 22, only for a knock-on to avert the danger.
Mapletoft’s men had a clear power advantage but continued to have lineout breakdowns and struggled at the breakdown. France took the lead through a penalty from La Rochelle fly-half Hugo Reus and France’s number eight, Mathis Castro Ferreira, caused havoc with carries and jackals.
The Toulouse newcomer was part of a fierce French fightback on 20 minutes when Mathijs Ferté touched down the left wing after some neat handling across the field, but a spectacular team try was ruled out as a knock-on counterattack.
England made the most of this breather, applying more pressure at the scrums and creating scoring chances. In the 24th minute, again from a lineout, No.8 Kane James charged but couldn’t ground the ball.
The set-piece onslaught continued and England won more offensive penalties, but just after the half-hour Shaun Carr had two shots on goal in quick succession that went wide. England were somehow still without a point, but that would soon change.
Four minutes before half-time the pressure finally worked, as after another lineout drive down the right the ball was sent infield and Angus Hall burst through the gap to lay a pass to Ioan Jones.
The full-backs were stopped but England were not. A ferocious run from Ollie Allan took them to the line and from the ensuing ruck lock Joe Bailey burst through the French defence to score.
Kerr scored to make it 7-3 but England equalised just before the break and Reus converted another penalty for France to reduce the deficit to just one point before the break.
Two changes to France’s front row just after half-time did not change the momentum. Castro Pereira was sin-binned for a high tackle on Henry Pollock and Kerr scored a penalty moments later to make it 10-6. England then scored their second try in the 53rd minute after a scrum advantage. The pack moved wildly and Green picked it up and fired home from close range.
Two further penalties from Kerr reflected England’s control and the game was rounded off with a close try from Ferté in the dying seconds, converted by Reus, and although France had a respectable showing on the scoreboard, England were victorious.