England U19s, although losing bronze to a last minute South African score, finished in their best ever position of fourth in the IRB U19 World Championship in Durban.

Having led 31-17 going into the last quarter, England, who had been forced to make changes to the team through injury and a citing, were ultimately denied a place in the final by mistakes made in the first half. Tries came from James Haskell, Chris Goodman, Tom Dawes and Anthony Allen, with four penalties and a conversion from Ross Broadfoot.

Leicester Tigers’ Broadfoot was the hero of the day in their earlier match against Australia, when he scored 23 of his team’s 33 points in their sensational 33-23 win. His three penalties, three conversions, try and drop goal were built on by tries from Haskell and captain Tom Ryder.

Ireland had withdrawn from the tournament because of the tragic death due to cardiac failure of their young flanker John McCall and the match against Georgia saw England romp to a 48-9 victory. In that first match, England scored seven tries from: Matthew Tait, Topsy Ojo, Tom Dawes, Ben Pienaar, Mark Simpson-Daniel, Paul Diggin and Broadfoot, who added a penalty and conversion.