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| England U20s 40 USA U20s 7
England Women Under 20s are still on track to retain their Nations Cup crown after another convincing win today (Sunday), this time against the USA at Brunel University.
The England young guns ran in eight tries in a very physical game. Both sides showed immense commitment throughout the match and although England created a number of opportunities the USA never gave up, most noticeably when they touched down for a 70th minute try.
England, however, set the tone of the match very early on with some good continuity play, and with both the backs and the forwards making inroads through the USA's defence, a pick up from the back of a ruck saw Leeds lock Charlotte Wild dive over the line after just eight minutes.
Centre Alex Cook, who came in as a late change for England, handed England a comfortable 10-0 lead after nearly as many minutes when some good running by Gemma Rowland in the mid-field created space for Cook to score.
Worcester wing Sam Bree, who scored a hat-trick of tries in England's Nations Cup opener against Canada, was back on the score sheet again after 16 minutes. After some good work at the break-down by Hannah Walker Smart the ball was recycled out to the backs and then passed out-wide to Bree who ran in from 22 metres out.
With the USA losing lock Brittany Rose to the sin bin for a high tackle England created a 20-0 lead at the break with prop Vicky Cornborough battling her way through the US's defence to score.
The one way traffic continued after the restart, this time with captain Marlie Packer leading by example. The Bath flanker took the ball from a good line-out to drive over the line, while some more excellent work by the forwards saw replacement Natasha Hunt also run in for a try from 22 metres out.
A 50th minute score by Kim Davey saw England claim their seventh try of the afternoon before Lizell Heather claimed the home side's final touch down on 64 minutes. This time some good turn over ball saw Reading's Hannah Field pick up and get the ball out to Heather. The winger still had some work to do but she beat the US defence to run in and score.
The USA never gave up though and finally they were able to get some points on the board in the dying minutes of the match. They battered England's defence and finally Rose picked up from the back of a ruck to dive over the line. Catherine Parkhill converted to make the final score 40-7.
England U20s Head Coach Giselle Mather said: "Several players were making their first starts for England today and I was thrilled with the way they stepped up. At the start we struggled to cope with the USA's blitz defence but we got to grips with it and started to apply the pressure, enabling us to get some good continuity together.
"To score eight tries is always a great achievement but I am especially pleased with the way the team reorganised themselves after some late changes. With Wales beating Canada today, that certainly makes for an exciting fixture against Wales on Wednesday."
England:
15 Kimberley Davey (Richmond), 14 Lizell Heather (Kettering), 13 Alex Cook (Bath), 12 Gemma Rowland (Exeter University), 11 Samantha Bree (Worcester), 10 Sarah McKenna (Old Albanian Saints) Vice Captain, 9 Hannah Walker-Smart (Paviors), 1 Victoria Cornborough (Richmond), 2 Davinia Monteiro (Bath), 3 Elizabeth Peak (Oakmedians), 4 Amy Millar (Reading), 5 Charlotte Wild (Leeds Met Uni), 6 Juliet Short (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 7 Marlie Packer (Bath) Captain, 8 Harriet Mills (Manchester). Replacements: 16 Charlotte Male (Plymouth Albion), 17 Sasha Acheson (Sudbury), 18 Nicola Hoole (Bath), 19 Hannah Field (Reading), 20 Jessie-Joy Flowers (West Park), 21 Claire Garner (Leeds Leos), 22 Natasha Hunt (Bath)
Tries: Wild, Cook, Bree, Cornborough, Packer, Hunt, Davey, Heather
Conversions:
Penalties:
Substitutions: Hunt for Cook (20), Field for Packer (55), Acheson for Cornborough (55), Hoole for Mills (58), Garner for McKenna (60), Male for Millar (60), Flowers for Walker-Smart (60)
USA:
15 Sadie Anderson, 14 Tyra McGrady, 13 Brooke LeGate, 12 Lisa Henneman, 11 Asia Donaldson, 10 Amelia Villines, 9 Brittany Houston, 1 Katherine Hathaway, 2 Brittany Woodard, 3 Mallory Ives, 4 Rebecca Holmes, 5 Brittany Rose, 6 Erin LeGate, 7 Jozephine Gessner, 8 Candace Barley. Replacements: 16 Erika Lane, 17 Wendy Sherman, 18 Rachel Sommer, 19 Catherine Parkhill, 20 Erica Cavanaugh, 21 Kathryn Johnson, 22 Jessica Sexauer.
Tries: Rose
Conversions: Parkhill
Penalties:
Referee: Sherry Trumbull (Canada)
Assistant Referees: Natalie Amor & Christine Goldfinch | |
| England Women Under 20s opened their defence of the Nations Cup tonight (Thursday) with an impressive display against Canada, powering to a 45-0 victory at Brunel University.
Worcester winger Sam Bree was at the heart of England's win, running in four tries for the young guns while captain Marlie Packer, Darlington Mowden Park Sharks' Rose Fong and Kettering's Lizell Heather also touched down for tries. With the USA only edging a 7-3 victory over Wales tonight England go into their next fixture against America on Sunday on a confident footing.
England U20s Head Coach Giselle Mather said: "I'm thrilled with this performance and how the players stepped up to the challenge. This performance was a massive step up from our game against Wales earlier this month. They have taken on to the field everything we have worked on in training. The next three games are certainly an exciting prospect."
Worcester's Bree opened the score sheet early on with England showing their power and pace through the midfield. Bree then finished off the move in the left corner with just three minutes gone.
Canada immediately hit back with some concerted pressure and they kept England off the score sheet until the 17th minute. Their efforts, however, came to nothing with England's defence too strong, and then fly half Claire Garner slotting home a penalty.
Centre Fong edged England into a 13-0 lead after a good break by Natasha Hunt who drove hard through the midfield and got the ball out to Fong on the right wing. Garner added the conversion before a second penalty minutes later.
Bree secured her brace of tries just before the break when some good pressure by England set her loose and handed the home side a comfortable 23-0 lead at half-time.
Canada's evening worsened soon after the restart with the sin-binning of No. 8 Tyson Beukeboom and England were quick to capitalise on their one player advantage with Bree running in for her hat-trick.
With some fresh legs on the field, the home side were able to keep the momentum going and this time it was skipper Packer on the score-board. The Bath flanker made the most of a charge down to touch down for a try with ease. Garner converted to take England into a 33-0 lead after 54 minutes.
Some more good work by Garner, who got the ball down the blindside to tie up Canada's defence, then saw Kettering replacement Heather cross for her first try, before Bree finished off England's convincing victory with her fourth try of the evening. | |
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