Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi is not taking anything for granted as England Under 20 go looking for their first-ever IRB Junior World Championship title in Sunday’s final against Wales.
The Northampton Saints Academy prop was part of the team which secured a maiden age group triumph over New Zealand in Tuesday’s semi-final, setting up an Anglo-Welsh clash for the decider at Vannes’ Stade de la Rabine.
It is a repeat of this year’s Under 20 Six Nations decider, which England triumphed in, but Northampton-born Hobbs-Awoyemi is wary of the challenge posed by their Welsh counterparts.
“We’re going to be approaching the game the same as any other, really,†he said. “We’ve been analysing them, analysing ourselves with what we did well against New Zealand and what we didn’t do so well, and how we’re going to play against Wales.
“No team is a pushover in this competition, but we know that on our day we have to play our game and hopefully that will bring us out on top.
“We’ve had amazing support and have all been getting tweets and messages from home, and hopefully we can win the title for our supporters, too.â€
Hobbs-Awoyemi and Saints Academy team mate Alex Day have featured in every game for England so far at the tournament, and they will hope to be involved again when head coach Nick Walshe names his team for the final on Saturday.
Northampton prospects Will Hooley and Tom Stephenson are also out in France with the Under 20 side, both of whom starred in the record 109-0 win over the USA which booked England’s place in the semi-finals.
What followed was a 33-21 victory over the Baby Blacks to set up a winner-takes-all clash with Wales, who defeated defending champions South Africa to book their final berth.
“Everybody had a good buzz about them after the game,†said Hobbs-Awoyemi, reflecting on the win over New Zealand. “There were a few battered bodies, but that didn’t matter because we’d got such a good win.
“It was a brutal match, very physical between ourselves and New Zealand. We were flying in, trying to hit them backwards and keeping the dominance in our defence.
“But our attack was good, too, and we scored tries at crucial times. We needed to keep the points ticking over, keep on scoring and that got us the win.â€
Article source: http://rleague.com/news/Rugby-League-Ireland-successfully-complete-RLEF-Technical-Strategy_119841/
Rugby Union: Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi ready for final showdown
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