England U20 Men triumph over Scotland
England U20 Men extended their unbeaten start to the 2024 U20 Six Nations with a 30-17 victory over Scotland in Edinburgh.
Sean Kerr kicked half of England’s points in a fine midfield performance, with the centre dotting down alongside Craig Wright to send Mark Mapletoft’s men into half-time 18-0 to the good.
Finn Carnduff notched England’s third try shortly after the break but Scotland responded with a try from Euan McVie to narrow the deficit.
Nathan Michelow restored the visitors’ advantage and secured a bonus point with a fourth try and while Freddie Douglas and Geordie Gwynn both went over for the hosts, it was not enough to deny England a third win of the 2024 Championship.
England started well and were on the scoreboard within four minutes thanks to the boot of Sean Kerr.
Craig Wright snaffled a loose Scottish lineout and provided the platform for the visitors to build and draw the penalty, with Kerr opting for the posts after Nathan Michelow almost made full use of the advantage with a break that was halted by Fergus Watson.
The away side were on the front foot immediately after, with some superb scrummaging earning another penalty that quickly turned into a driving maul but Archie McParland’s inventive kick was cut out by Geordie Gwynn.
Wright was involved again as England scored their first try with 14 minutes on the clock, the hooker crashing over from close range after a his own lineout throw was converted into a devastating rolling maul.
Kerr added the extras to give England an early 10-0 lead, but Mapletoft’s men continued to push to extend their lead and Kerr added another three after the hosts were penalised for a deliberate knock-on halfway through the first-half.
Amena Caqusau was then sent to the sin-bin for Scotland as the penalty count mounted, and England were able to make them pay on the half hour mark.
Ben Redshaw’s break for the corner was eventually stopped but substitute fly-half George Makepeace-Cubitt found Kerr out wide, who showed great feet to finish in the corner but couldn’t add the extras.
Scotland looked to respond and came metres within doing so as Murdoch Lock intercepted a pass and ran the length of the pitch before being sent into touch just before the whitewash.
England held off a late push from their hosts just before the break and started the second half brightly, with their reward coming in the form of a third try inside three minutes.
Good work from a lineout allowed the forwards to go through the phases and captain Carnduff heaved his way over the line before Kerr added the extras to extend the lead to 25-0.
Scotland then got their first try, Euan McVie powering over after the home side piled on the pressure in the England 22, Isaac Coates adding the conversion.
But the visitors hit back almost immediately and secured a bonus point as Michelow burrowed over after Afolabi Fasogbon was initially held up.
Yet Scotland refused to be down and out and notched their second try 15 minutes from time, Freddie Douglas going over from the back of a rolling maul.
The hosts would grab a third try of the evening just over five minutes from time as Gwynn went over in the corner, but it was not enough to deny England victory north of the border.
Scotland
15 Fergus Watson, 14 Kerr Johnston, 13 Geordie Gwynn (c), 12 Kerr Yule, 11 Amena Caqusau, 10 Isaac Coates, 9 Murodch Lock; 1 Robbie Deans, 2 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 3 Callum Norrie, 4 Euan McVie, 5 Ruaridh Hart, 6 Liam McConnell, 7 Freddy Douglas, 8 Jonny Morris
Replacements: 16 Gavin Parry, 17 Callum Smyth, 18 Ryan Whitefield, 19 Ryan Burke, 20 Tom Currie, 21 Eric Davey, 22 Jack Hocking, 23 Johnny Ventisei
Tries: McVie 53’, Douglas 66’, Gwynn 75'
Conversions: Coates 54’
England
15 Ioan Jones, 14 Toby Cousins, 13 Ben Redshaw, 12 Sean Kerr, 11 Alex Wills, 10 Rory Taylor, 9 Archie McParland; 1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Craig Wright, 3 Billy Sela, 4 Joe Bailey, 5 Finn Carnduff (c), 6 Nathan Michelow, 7 Henry Pollock, 8 Zach Carr
Replacements: 16 Jacob Oliver, 17 Scott Kirk, 18 Afolabi Fasogbon, 19 Harry Browne, 20 Kane James, 21 Ben Douglas, 22 George Makepeace-Cubitt, 23 Ben Waghorn
Tries: Wright 12’, Kerr 30’, Carnduff 46’, Michelow 58’
Conversions: Kerr 13’, 47'
Penalties: Kerr 3’, 22’
