Report: England U19 54-12 Scotland U19

Tries from Co-Captain Joe Roberts and Nairn Moncrieff weren’t enough as England ran in eight of their own to secure victory in a physical encounter played in front of a big crowd. Although there were flashes of strong play from the Scots, their mistakes were punished ruthlessly by the hosts.

England began on the front foot from kick off on Tyneside, with stand-off Ollie Davies at the centre of several powerful phases. They made their first foray for the line after a strong lineout, but a powerful Scotland rearguard kept them at bay to hold the ball up.

The hosts did get their first score through centre Will Knight- who was the free man in a 2v1 as Scotland were caught short on their right. A simple offload from winger Sam Winters allowed Knight to cross the whitewash. Davies added the extras [7-0].

A second England try came a couple of minutes later as Davies arrived on a well-timed support line, taking an inside pass from Noah Caluori, who had evaded two Scottish tackles on the right to break the line. Davies converted his own try from under the posts [14-0].

Scotland hit the English 22 for the first time after winning a penalty in the centre. Co-captain Joe Roberts’ lineout found the hands of Archie McMichael, and the maul started to rumble towards the line. Big carries from Jamie Stewart and Will Pearce forced successive penalties for the Scots. At the third time of asking the maul beared fruits, and Joe Roberts stayed low to burrow over. Ross Wolfenden succesfully opened his kicking account for the afternoon [14-7].

After a nervous start Scotland had well and truly asserted themselves in the game. A fine break from Jamie Thomson following neat handling in the midfield was thwarted by a last-ditch English tackle, while another Scottish lineout on the 22 nearly produced the goods again.

Against the run of play, England went over for their third through the impressive Calouri. After setting up the second try, roles reversed as he found himself free after England moved wide right sharply from the scrum. Conor Byrne took the ball as second received, before offloading to Calouri just before being hit by the tackle. Davies made it three kicks from three [21-7].

A well-crafted solo try from Sam Winters put daylight on the scoreboard. From a scrum on their own 22, the ball broke the way of the hosts. Wide on the left, Winters kicked and chased, judging the bounce to perfection to gather ahead of Nairn Moncrieff and race clear. Davies converted again from a near-identical position to his last [28-7].

Right on half-time, England had a fifth through captain Connor Treacy. After Scotland failed to find touch from the kick, England moved the ball quickly across the pitch, with smart handling on show from Winters and Will Knight. It was to be the captain who would find himself at the end of the move, bouncing off a visiting tackle to find the line. Davies missed his first kick of the afternoon but the hosts were in control at the break [33-7].

Half Time: England U19  33-7  Scotland U19

The second period began in a to-and-fro fashion, with both teams cancelling each other out and countless errors in possession. It was the hosts who got on the board first though, with Treacey doubling his tally for the afternoon after a bursting line break from centre Will Knight, who went right through the heart of the Scots. Treacey was there to collect and cross, despite being under the eye of two defenders. The extras were added [40-7].

Scotland weren’t about to lie down, and they tried to look for a route to the line down the right. Phase after phase was built, with fine carries by Roberts, Barbour and McCormack, before the ball found the hands of Jamie Stewart. Unfortunately for Scotland though, the ball slipped from his grasp as he made yards towards the five metre line.

Scotland weren’t to be denied and got their first score of the half through Nairn Moncrieff. After gathering a loose England kick, the Scots made a quick dart down the right. After two strong carries, the ball broke to Seth Roberts, who offloaded to the onrushing Moncrieff just before he was put in touch. The winger needed no second invitation to stride over, although the conversion was missed [40-12].

The game continued to ebb and flow, with neither team getting on the board further. England went over again five minutes from time after a stray Scottish pass found the hands of James Patter, who evaded the defence to cut in and dot down under the posts. Just seconds later the hosts were in again through Asa Stewart-Harris, as Scotland were slow to advance in defence. Both scores were converted by Oscar Talbot, in what would prove to be the final points of the encounter [54-12].

Full Time: England U19  54-12  Scotland U19

Reaction: Scotland U19 Head Coach Fergus Pringle said: “I thought the boys stuck to the plan, we wanted plenty of ball-in-play time and at times we had good possession.

“But we need to be harder to score against, we got some defensive decisions wrong and England’s backs were quick and they took advantage.

“We’re giving guys exposure to this level to guys who haven’t had it, and now they know the levels and expectations.

“We have a few boys here who won’t get much game time just now with the Premiership finishing, so we’re giving them game time and we got to look at some players over the two U19 fixtures that we haven’t seen before.”

England U19: 15. Conor Byrne, 14. Noah Caluori, 13. Rhys Beeckmans, 12. Will Knight, 11. Sam Winters, 10. Ollie Davies, 9. Jonny Weimann; 1. Josh Mann, 2. Jimmy Staples, 3. Ollie Streeter, 4. Ethan Surrey, 5. Aidan Ainsworth-Cave, 6. Elliot Williams, 7. Patrick Hogg, 8. Connor Treacey (Captain).

Replacements: 16. George Knowles, 17. Jamie Miller, 18. Jack Lightbown, 19. Luke Griffiths, 20. Olly Allport, 21. George Marsh, 22. Asa Stewart-Harris, 23. Oscar Talbot, 24. James Pater, 25. Tyler Offiah.

Scotland U19: 15. Harry Provan (Glasgow Warriors), 14. Nairn Moncrieff (Edinburgh Rugby), 13. Angus Hunter (Heriot’s RFC), 12. Alex Bryden (Glasgow Warriors), 11. Jamie Thomson (University of St Andrews), 10. Ross Wolfenden (Co-Captain) (Edinburgh Rugby), 9. Ben Curtis (GHA RFC); 1. Will Pearce (Cardiff Metropolitan University/ Bristol Bears), 2. Joe Roberts (Co-Captain)(Glasgow Warriors), 3. Jamie Stewart (Edinburgh Rugby), 4. Aidan Orr (Marr RFC), 5. Dan Halkon, 6. Archie McMichael, 7. Rory Purvis(All Glasgow Warriors), 8. Logan Gray (Stirling County).

Replacements: 16 Jack Utterson (Kelso RFC), 17. Jake Shearer (Glasgow Warriors), 18. Ryan Whitefield (Biggar RFC), 19. Anthony McCormack (Hull RUFC, Bishop Burton University), 20. Finn Ronnie (Strathallan School), 21. Hamish MacArthur (Edinburgh Rugby), 22. Freddie Drake-Lee (Swansea University), 23. Archie Barbour (Kelso RFC), 24. Mac Rutherford (Edinburgh Rugby), 25. Seth Roberts (Stamford School/ Northampton Saints), 26. Ben Firth (Kirkham School/ Sale Sharks).

Referee: Robbie Jenkinson

Player of the Match: Connor Treacey (England)