|
But although the home side scored immediately after the break through flanker Lewis Calder, they didn’t have the physique or the precision to seriously threaten until they added a consolation try from prop Lewis Niven in the final minute.
England went into the game with three impressive wins already behind them over Wales (28-15), Italy (22-13) and France (24-6), the latter in front of a 20,000 capacity crowd in Grenoble.
They had been forced to make changes to their backline, though, following a hip injury to centre Jordan Turner-Hall and the recall of full back Dan Norton by Gloucester.
Miller made his first start at fly half and Mark Odejobi on the left wing, Goode moving to inside centre and Noah Cato to full back, while Simpson took over at scrum half from Ben Youngs.
The changes in personnel, though, made little difference against a Scotland side who were outmuscled up front, particularly at the scrums where loose-head Nathan Catt led the way.
Goode and Jackson traded penalties in the first five minutes before England pulled away with three tries in 20 minutes.
Stegmann was rewarded for his supporting run in the seventh minute after Goode turned defence into attack down the right then converted from the touchline.
They dominated territory and possession after that and putting enough phases together saw Scotland run out of defenders in the 25th minute for Cato to stroll over unopposed in the same corner.
The forwards got in on the act after that, Ellis held up once before a five-metre scrum and another sequence of drives saw the Number eight force his way over.
A 22-3 interval lead – with Scotland scrum half Ross Samson off the field in the sin-bin – should have been the base for a substantial score.
Then Thomas was dismissed for allegedly butting an opponent two minutes before the break leaving England short of options for the second half – and for the Ireland game at Kingsholm in seven days time.
Scotland took advantage immediately, with Calder – the son of 1984 Grand Slam winner Jim – darting over from the back of a close-range lineout and the comeback looked on, particularly when Samson reappeared to give them a one-man advantage.
But 14-man England then put together their best spell of the game by increasing the tempo to eliminate any chance of an upset with Simpson, Cox and Cato scoring superbly crafted tries.
Simpson finished off a break-out from half-way with a dummy and surge from the base of a ruck before outpacing the cover; Cox was perfectly place after Goode accelerated through a midfield hole; and Cato grabbed a second with an intelligent support line after Goode again slipped his marker.
Miller took over the kicking to convert twice and suddenly England were out of sight at 41-8 before closing down the opposition for the final quarter.
The game lost some shape but Worcester lock Graham Kitchener made a positive impression on his debut and there were first caps at this level for centre Greg King and utility-back John Brake before Scotland reached double figures with Niven’s score and a conversion from James Murray.
Scotland U20: Murray Allan (Loughborough University); Lee Jones (Selkirk), Chris Kinloch (Edinburgh Academicals), Steven Wilson (Dundee HSFP), Tom Bury (Boroughmuir); Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Hawks), Ross Samson (Newcastle Falcons); Gary Strain (Glasgow Hawks), Fraser Brown (Biggar), Lewis Niven (Edinburgh Academicals), Neale Patrick (Dunfermline), Josh Brown (Bristol), Fraser McKenzie (Heriot’s), Lewis Calder (Newcastle Falcons, captain), Jonny Baird (Watsonians).
Replacements: Adrian Duncan (Stewart’s-Melville FP) for Brown 50, Angus Dixon (Aberdeen Grammar), Craig Simmonds (Heriot’s) for Patrick 55, Steven Burton (Currie) for Baird 65
Matthew Heeks (London Scottish) for Samson 72, James Murray (Leeds Carnegie and Edinburgh Academicals) for Jackson 78, Paul Loudon (Durham University) for Kinloch 50.
Scorers: Tries: Calder, Niven. Penalty: Jackson, Murray.
Yellow card: Samson 34-44
England U20: Noah Cato (Saracens); Seb Stegmann (Harlequins), Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby), Alex Goode (Saracens), Mark Odejobi (London Wasps); Rob Miller (Newcastle Falcons), Joe Simpson (London Wasps); Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby), Joe Gray (Northampton Saints), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Ben Thomas (Saracens), Scott Hobson (Cornish Pirates), Jon Fisher (London Irish), Matt Cox (Worcester Warriors), Hugo Ellis (London Wasps, captain).
Replacements: Scott Freer (Leeds Carnegie) for Gray 55, Billy Moss (Bath Rugby) for Corbisiero 55, Graham Kitchener (Worcester Warriors) for Cox 65, Tom Sargeant (Harlequins) for Hobson 75, Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) for Simpson 65, Greg King (Worcester Warriors) for Goode 75, John Brake (Northampton Saints) for Stegmann 75.
Scorers: Tries: Cato 2, Stegmann, Ellis, Simpson, Cox. Conversions: Goode 2, Miller 2. Penalty: Goode.
Referee: James Jones (WRU).
ends |
