England U18s stay unbeaten

England U18S have beaten South Africa 30-22 in Stellenbosch to finish their season unbeaten.

Tries from Rotimi Segun, Joe Batley and Max Clark put England in control in the first half, while a second-half score from Sam Underhill took the game away from South Africa. Harry Mallinder added four points with the boot, and Rory Jennings six.

Head Coach John Fletcher said: “We’re delighted to get the result, the players and management have been great all tour, but the performance was the most pleasing thing. I thought that we were on top for the majority of the game, South Africa came back fighting in the second half but our defence was excellent and we deserved the victory.

“Charlie Beckett led the guys very well, and when he went off Sam Underhill took over and he was also excellent. They’re a talented group and deserve the success.

“In terms of the programme – from Under 15 through to Under 19 – we’ve finished the season unbeaten, and while it’s not all about results, it’s clearly a positive thing. And if you include the Under 20s in that too – they lost one game in the Six Nations and won the Junior World Championship, so it’s fair to say that English rugby is in a good place.

“There is some real talent coming through and our job is to provide players who will ultimately deliver at the highest level. A real bulk of the work is done at the Regional Academies, the schools and the colleges and they deserve a lot of credit too.”

England started brilliantly and were 12-0 up with barely ten minutes on the clock with quick-fire tries from Segun and Batley.

South Africa got on the board with 14 played to make it 12-3 but it didn’t take long for England to hit back when Clark powered over one minute later.

The hosts upped the ante as the half progressed and while the English defence held firm for the most part, South Africa did force their way over to make it 19-8 at the break.

England started the half as they did the first and Underhill dived over early on to put England 16 ahead at 24-8. The South Africans hit back soon after though, scoring their second try to make it 24-15.

England then went down to 14 men and were forced onto the back foot for long periods but turned over possession and went up the other end, won a penalty and Jennings made it 27-15.

A third South Africa try made it 27-22 with not long to play, but Jennings’ second three-pointer gave England an eight point cushion which is how it stayed.

Tagged England U18s

England U18s stay unbeaten