Said England U19 and National Academy Coach, Nigel Redman, “We knew that we would have to score tries and we won by two tries to nil.  This has been a hot and brutal but great tournament and to come away with third place is great. 

“I’ve loved working with these kids and it’s been terrific having Damian McGrath coaching with me.  The players have been great all season and we have scored some fantastic tries and played some sensational rugby.”

Saracens’ centre and U19 captain, Adam Powell, added, “We defended for a lot of the game and it was hard but we stuck in there.  We regrouped after the break and dug in.  France are great opposition and always a pleasure to play but in the end we took it on tries and the boys are really pleased.”

The intense heat in Dubai saw kick off put back by 15 minutes and the vociferous crowd were up for the fray by the time the whistle went.  It seemed that Les Bleus had decided that England, with Wasps 10 Danny Cipriani out through concussion, lacked a kicker and they did all in their power to pin England deep in their half before the break.

If it was tries that mattered, the only one in the first 35 minutes half came from England, after the French 15, Mathieu Belie, had secured three penalties.  Sale Sharks’ number 8, David Tait, raced off the back of the scrum and offloaded to London Wasps and St Benedict’s scrum half Joseph Simpson.  Simpson stormed down the blind side before passing the ball out to Doherty who outpaced his defender and made it 5-9 at the break.

After the break, with Exeter Chiefs, SWERA, and Exeter College number 9 Richard Bolt on for Simpson, Belie added another penalty making it 5-12.  There was no doubting the English determination, however, as line out followed lineout and scrum followed scrum.  With the 3,000-strong crowd shouting alternately, “allez les bleus!” and “come on England!” the boys in white took it to the French.

Leicester Tigers centre Tom Youngs in head bandage was bloodied but certainly unbowed and when fresh limbs arrived in the front row it was invariably England dominating forward play.

Some 25 minutes into the second half, after a period of sustained England pressure, Care, playing at 10 instead of his usual 9, burst through to the try line and with Doherty adding the all important conversion they were level at 12- 12.  And there they stayed battling to the final whistle, when with no tries to the French and two to the English, they had earned the third spot to take home on the plane to Heathrow tomorrow morning.

England U19s
David Doherty (Leeds Tykes), Oliver Dodge (Leicester Tigers), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers) blood rep by Jordan Turner-Hall (NEC Harlequins 41-51mins), Adam Powell (Saracens) captain, Selorm Kuadey (Sale Sharks) rep by Jordan Turner-Hall (NEC Harlequins, 58mins), Danny Care (Leeds Tykes), Joseph Simpson (London Wasps & St Benedict’s) rep by Richard Bolt (Exeter Chiefs, SWERA & Exeter College, 35mins), Charles Beech (Northampton Saints) rep by Matthew Mullan (Worcester Warriors, 42mins), Jordan Page (Leeds Tykes) rep by Ross McMillan (Nottingham, 42mins), Daniel Cole (Leicester Tigers) rep by Tom Mercey (Saracens, 42mins), Dave Attwood (Bristol Rugby & Bristol Uni), Sam McDonald (Worcester Warriors) rep by Alex Shaw (Leicester Tigers, 53mins), Iain Grieve (Bristol Rugby), Andy Saull (Saracens & Bancrofts School), David Tait (Sale Sharks)

Replacements not used:
Hugo Ellis (London Wasps & St Benedict’s), Chris Pennell (Worcester Warriors), Adam Greendale (Leeds Tykes & Hymers College)

IRB U19 World Championships, Dubai
Results
Wednesday 5th April 2006 – Ireland U19 17 - 16 England U19 (Live on Sky Sports)
Sunday 9th April 2005 – Argentina U19 23 -28 England U19
Thursday 13th April 2005 - South Africa U19 18 – 45 England U19 (Live on Sky Sports at 5pm BST)
Monday 17th April 2005 - Semi final - New Zealand 24 – 11 England (Live on Sky Sports)
Friday 21st April 2005 – Third/fourth place play off – England 12 - 12 France (England win on try count) (Live on Sky Sports at 3pm BST)

For information on England’s fixtures and player profiles go to www.rfu.com/englandu19.

Player interviews are available from England U19 press officer Patricia Mowbray on 07710 466658.

Rights free photos and tournament information are available from www.irbu19.com