July 17th, 2008
England Women Under 20s 14 Wales Under 20s 3
England Women Under 20s booked their place in the final of the inaugural Nations Cup in Toronto on Wednesday after a 14-3 victory against Home Nations rivals Wales.
The England young guns recorded their third victory over Wales this season as well as retained their clean sheet in the Nations Cup, which has seen them record victories over Canada and Canada A. England now face Canada, who have beaten Canada A and Wales, in the Nations Cup final on Saturday, kick-off 10pm (BST).
In a very physical game, England dominated the first 20 minutes but the excellent Welsh defence kept out a number of promising England attacks. Wales came back into the game with some strong, hard running and put England under pressure, particularly at the set-piece, but both sides had to settle for 0-0 at half-time.
After the restart England went 3-0 down after a successful penalty kick at goal, but Lichfield’s Emily Scarratt put England back in control on 60 minutes with the first try of the game. Wales were under pressure and Scarratt charged down a clearance kick, which she then ran in from 30 metres out to score a great individual try. Scarratt added the conversion, handing England a 7-3 lead.
England had other opportunities to capitalise on their first try but the pressure in defence was maintained by Wales and forced England into making mistakes. England also had to defend hard to maintain their lead with a number of Welsh attacks being thrown at them.
With six minutes remaining on the clock England took a quick tap penalty in the mid-field. Good hands from the backs moved the ball out-wide with pace, with Camberley winger Georgina Crabb pouncing on the ball and scoring the decisive final try. Scarratt again added the conversion to secure the 14-3 victory and confirm England’s place in the final.
Giselle Mather, England Under 20s Head Coach, said: “This was a tough battle, and I’m very proud of the way the players stood up. Wales have improved massively from our previous encounters and were very tough opponents.
“Our players had to come from behind and maintain composure under pressure. They did this and were able to seize the opportunities when they arose.
“This was our third game in six days and it was a big ask, but the players have responded well all week to training and recovery and this hard work was demonstrated today out on the pitch. We know Saturday will be very difficult and we will have to step-up again in order to get the result we are looking for.”
England Under 20s
1 Laura Keates © (Worcester), 2 Vicky Fleetwood (Lichfield), 3 Elizabeth Peake (Lakenham Hewitt), 4 Charlotte Male (Ivel Barbarians), 5 Rowena Burnfield (Richmond), 6 Brigit Reeves (Leeds Leos), 7 Isabelle Noel-Smith (Bath), 8 Marlie Packer (Bath), 9 Rachel Fraser (Morpeth), 10 April Brown (Saracens), 11 Georgina Crabb (Camberley), 12 Sarah Graham (Lichfield), 13 Rose Fong ( Darlington Mowden Park), 14 Kimberley Davy (Richmond), 15 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield). Replacements: 16 Davinia Monteiro (Wasps), 17 Vicky Cornborough (Richmond), 18 Juliet Short (Darlington Mowden Park), 19 Hannah Field (Reading), 20 Sarah Guest (Worcester), 21 Clare Garner (Doncaster), 22 Natasha Hunt (Bath).
Tries: Scarratt, Crabb
Conversions: Scarratt (2)
Substitutions: Monterio for Fleetwood, Cornborough for Peake, Guest for Fraser, Garner for Brown (all HT), Short on for Reeves (48), Hunt on for Davy (48).
Under 20s Nations Cup Schedule:
All games to be played at Appleby College in Toronto
Friday July 11th
Wales v Canada A, KO 530pm
England v Canada KO 710pm (1210am BST) WON 31-5
Monday July 14th
England v Canada A KO 530pm (1030pm BST) WON 22-5
Canada v Wales KO 710 pm
Wednesday July 16th:
England v Wales KO 7pm (12am BST) WON 14-3
Saturday July 19th:
Championship Final KO 5pm (10pm BST)
Ends…
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