66 min Suck it up boys. Just 15 minutes left. Oh no. England lose the
ball, it’s turned over. And Dan Kriel this time makes good yards. South
Africa are making good inroads in the midfield. South Africa are eight
metres away. And it’s a scrum to them when a maul collapses.
England 21-20 South Africa 64 min Blimey. From one end to the other. That
man Jessie Kriel crosses for his second score of the game. Great step
from the centre, when the ball was played back to him from the left. Nathan
Earle completely missed his man. And Pollard converted. A one-point game
once more.
63 min Very messy once more now. Very tense stuff. No10 Pollard
completely misses a catch. But it’s a scrum to South Africa, in their own
half. They have 17 minutes to go. And they have to score twice.
62 min Penalty shot now as Pieterson can’t roll away. But Burns misses
his kick. It slides just left of the uprights.
60 min Bit of kick-tennis now. Great interception from from Earle, and
he puts away prop Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi. But he is caught. Open rugby, very
loose.
59 min Burns, young brother of Freddie, is pulling the strings well in
this second half, but on that occasion he over cooks a pass.
57 min Aimless kick from Howard Packman now, and South Africa are just
one clean pass away from being clear on the left. Wakey, wakey England.
56 min They knock on, though. Even with a misfiring lineout England are
winning. By my reckoning they have had only two clean catches. Out of eight
set pieces.
54 min England really have their tails up now. They are all over them
at the moment. A chip and chase from the try scorer Conlon now, and he
scrags Pieterson. Pollards clearance is then nearly charged down. And it’s a
lineout England.
53 min England 21-13 South Africa Well done England’s forwards.
They won the lineout and it was replacement flanker Joel Conlon who
scored, somewhere underneath the flopped maul. Hero. And Burns laces the
conversion from wide out on the left.
51 min England regain the ball, though, and they almost score on the
left, but Earle, who looks really impressive, is held up just short. They
have a lineout. Can they win this one? They do, and they drive over!
49 min Bad call. With a misfiring lineout it was always a risk. And
England have lost that set-piece, again, and the chance is ticked off.
48 min Good from Earle out on the right now, and better hands from the
forwards. The Baby Boks are offside in their 22, and England have a penalty.
But they kick for touch, and not for the three points. Big decision.
Meanwhile, before the lineout, the South African hooker Corniel Els goes off
on a motorised stretcher as he looks to have jiggered his left knee.
45 min England 14-13 South Africa Yes, Polland nails his
kick and it’s back to a one-point game, Hang on to your hats, folks.
44 min Much better from South African now, they look to hit back
straight away. On the left there is really good skill from winger Sergeal
Petersen, who finds blindside flanker Jacques Vermeulen on his inside.
England are at sixes and sevens. And they win a penalty within kicking
distance.
43 min England 14-10 South Africa Billy Burns lands his kick,
which came from good forward pressure.
41 min Pollard kicks off the second half. Great start to the half from
England.
HALF TIME: England 11-10 South Africa
A messy half, in truth. The defences are on top, and there have been plenty of
handling errors. The English have only won one out of their five lineouts.
They are better in the scrum, and will be very pleased they are one point
ahead at the break.
England 11-10 South Africa Brilliant. Nathan Earle has scored
England’s first five-pointer of the game. It came from a superb run from
scrum-half Taylor, who could not be scragged by the Springboks. He nearly
scored, too, but was just short. Then the ball was flashes right by Burns
and the right winger was able to dot down. Fly-half Burns can’t arrow the
conversion in, though. But England, the reigning champions, are one point
ahead as the half-time hooter goes.
39 min Pollard, taken down early in the air previously, does it himself
and that’s dangerous. They can clear their lines.
38 min England 6-10 South Africa Fantastic, the full-back lands
it, from inside his own half at Eden Park, of all places! Well done. That
will have the young Boks worried, too.
36 min England win a lineout! At the fifth time of asking. It results
in a penalty for a mid-field offside. Wow, from inside his own half, all of
56 metres out, Aaron Morris lines it up.
33 min England lose ANOTHER lineout. And this one is on their five
metre line. Something needs to be done in that area at the break. The young
Springboks go left. And it’s dropped and England run it left. Very brave!
And it goes well for left winger Howard Packman, who can surely gas the
hooker on the outside? He opts to kick, hinting at a lack of confidence. The
Northampton Saints man hacks on again, but tumbles over. Half-chance there.
31 min And just as England regain the ball and look to be making good
inroads, through the forwards, they are whistled for holding on. South
Africa are able to clear, and they have no issues with their lineout, unlike
their opponents.
29 min England’s Nathan Earle makes a line break to take his side into
the opposition half, and they win a lineout. But England lose another one;
that’s their third lost. In fact they have not won one.
28 min Untidy from the South Africans now. Knock on relieves the
pressure for England. Scrum down on their 10-metre line. It’s fair to say
that the defences are beating the attacks. The invention shown by Pollard
for the Kriel try is the only sparkle we have see so far.
26 min Another ace kick from Pollard humps South Africa back deep into
the England half. And an Englishman touches it, so it’s a green and yellows
line. They win it, just about, and go right.
23 min Pollard is coming in to this game now. He tries a drop-kick when
there is not much on. It goes just wide.
20 min England 3-10 South Africa Jessie Kriel, the outside centre,
collects a chip and crosses for a five pointer on the left. Pollard
converts well.
19min Messy from England now. They take a tap penalty from insider
their 22, but Taylor slings the ball forward. And South Africa make the
whites pay.
16 min England 3-3 South Africa Yes. Burns strikes back.
15min South Africa fumble the restart. More mistakes. And now it’s a
penalty. Burns can make amends for his earlier naughtiness.
15 min England 0-3 South Africa First blood to South Africa and Pollard
strokes over the penalty right in front of the sticks.
14 min And from that penalty South African forwards rumble it up and
make decent yards. Billy Burns is caught offside and this will be a penalty
shot.
12 min England lock Maro Itoje is penalised on the halfway line after
he tackles catcher Pollard in mid air. Rather comically he drops down the
fly-half incredibly gently.
11 min South Africa go down in the next scrum; they seem to have a
problem on the left. England go quickly with the free kick and shunt it down
field.
10 min A couple of scrums go down. Reset. Third time lucky, but the No8
Aidon Davis, or was it scrum-half JP Smith, who has already had a couple of
kicks charged down, knocks on.
8 min Better from South Africa now. They have been a little shell
shocked at the England side’s electric start. They have a scrum in the
English half, on the 22-metre line. That’s the closest to the try line they
have been.
5 min Good chance down the right for Nathan Earle, as England continue
to ratchet up the pressure. The winger chips ahead, but it goes into touch.
Unlucky lad.
3min Handre Pollard, the South African No10 is able to ease the
pressure after the scum buckled and the referee awards the side with the
ball a penalty.
2 min Good work from England’s forwards now. A Garryowen goes up and is
spilled by the young Sprinkboks … the England pack are then able to rumble
forward. And then they break off, though Moriarty. It’s a knock on, though,
and scrum to the Springboks on their five-metre line.
1 min And England start the game. Burns begins with a kick to the
right, which is gobbled up by the big South Africans neatly.
08.30 Hello all and welcome to this England under-20s Junior World
Championship final between England and South Africa in Eden Park.
England have named an unchanged XV, and here they are:
15. Aaron Morris (Bedford Blues), 14. Howard Packman (Northampton Saints), 13.
Nick Tompkins (Saracens), 12. Harry Sloan (Harlequins), 11. Nathan Earle
(Saracens), 10. Billy Burns (Gloucester Rugby), 9. Henry Taylor
(Loughborough University), 1. Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Northampton Saints), 2.
Tom Woolstencroft (Bath Rugby), 3. Paul Hill (Leeds Carnegie), 4. Maro Itoje
(Saracens, captain), 5. Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby), 6. Ross Moriarty
(Gloucester Rugby), 7. Gus Jones (London Wasps), 8. James Chisholm
(Harlequins)
Here’s South Africa:
15. Warrick Gelant, 14. Dan Kriel, 13. Jessie Kriel, 12. Andre Esterhuizen,
11. Sergeal Petersen, 10 .Handre Pollard, 9. JP Smith, 1.Thomas du Toit, 2.
Corniel Els, 3. Dayan van der Westhuizen, 4. JD Schickerling, 5. Nicolaas
Janse van Rensburg, 6. Jacques Vermeulen, 7. Cyle Brink, 8. Aidon Davis
Nick Walshe, the England Under-20s coach, believes his side’s progress to the
final of the Rugby Union Junior World Championship has caused New Zealanders
to sit up and take notice.
England, the defending champions, face South Africa in the final at Eden Park
on Friday, the third time in four years they have reached this stage.
Walshe’s team have caught the eye with their vibrancy, and they have run up
notable victories against Australia and Ireland.
Walshe said: “We really wanted to earn the respect of the southern hemisphere
in their own backyard and that respect is now turning to concern as New
Zealand realise that the All Blacks have got to rebuild after the Rugby
World Cup, while we’ve already re-built with players who’ve come through
this route.â€
Owen Farrell, George Ford, Joe Launchbury and Jack Nowell have graduated from
Under-20s and the likes of Nathan Earle, Maro Itoje, Gus Jones, Henry Taylor
and Callum Braley have all made an impact in New Zealand.
Join us from 8.30am (BST) for live match commentary…
Article source: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/rugby-kane-douglas-poised-to-leave-for-ireland-20140505-zr4sk.html
England vs South Africa, Junior World Championship final: live - Telegraph
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