England have won the junior World Cup in Cape Town – ending France’s era of dominance in the annual tournament by using their scrum as a weapon of mass destruction.
Tries by Joe Bailey and Arthur Green, along with 11 points from the boot of Harlequins centre Sean Kerr, propelled Mark Mapletoft’s national Under 20 side to global glory. It was England’s fourth title and their first since 2016, and it was founded overwhelmingly on pack power in the set-piece.
At a time when Steve Borthwick, the head coach of the senior Red Rose team, has announced his priority mission to unearth a new generation of mighty scrummagers, this was another timely and heartening demonstration of the emerging talent in the age-group ranks.
England demolished the French scrum from start to finish, led by the outstanding props, Sale’s Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Afolabi Fasogbon of Gloucester.
The formidable pair, aided and abetted by the rest of Mapletoft’s supreme pack, utterly eclipsed their rivals. England won a torrent of scrum penalties and used the platform to turn the screw on France, who were seeking their fourth successive title.
England have won the junior World Cup in Cape Town – ending France’s era of dominance in the annual tournament
England produced a dominant physical performance to unhinge France’s defence on several occasions
Finn Carnduff carried the ball forward as France look to defend against England’s relentless attack
Instead, England’s class of 2024 emulated their predecessors in 2013, 2014 and 2016, by seizing the coveted Under 20 prize; adding it to the Six Nations title they won earlier in the year.
There was a thunderous performance from the huge Racing 92 lock, Junior Kpoku, watched by his club-mate, World Cup-winning Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi – who danced with school pupils in the stand. On this evidence, the RFU will be desperate for Kpoku to be lured back to the Premiership as soon as possible, so he can come into consideration for a senior call-up.
Captain and Leicester forward prospect Finn Carnduff lifted the trophy, to cap a magnificent England campaign. They beat Argentina, Fiji and hosts South Africa in the pool stage, then dispatched Ireland 31-20 in the semi-final.
France had swept past New Zealand’s ‘Baby Blacks’ 55-31 in the last four to go into the showpiece decider in confident mood, but that was until they ran into the juggernaut English scrum.
‘We used our set piece to our advantage,’ said Carnduff. ‘I can’t really believe it, to be honest. It’s amazing. It’s a super special group and we’re brothers for life. To win two trophies together, I can’t quite believe it.’
There was an early muscle-flexing statement of intent from England in just the third minute, when the pack drove back their rivals in the first scrum of the match. It set the tone for what was to follow. In the ninth minute, a penalty was dispatched to touch on the left to give England an attacking lineout and the forwards blasted through the French 22 with a dominant drive, until a knock-on led to the danger being cleared.
While Mapletoft’s men were armed with a glaring power advantage, they suffered a series of lineout malfunctions and were also being troubled at the breakdown. France took the lead through a penalty by La Rochelle fly-half Hugo Reus and the Gallic No 8, Mathis Castro-Ferreira was wreaking havoc with his carrying and jackaling.
The Toulouse rookie was involved in a sweeping French counter-attack in the 20th minute which culminated in Mathis Ferte touching down on the left, after slick handling across the field. But the dazzling team try was ruled out on review, for a knock-on in the build-up.
Joe Bailey (right) scored England’s first try to put them in the lead of the final contest
England made the most of their reprieve, exerting more scrum pressure and creating more scoring chances. In the 24th minute, from another lineout drive, No 8 Kane James crashed over but he was unable to ground the ball.
The set-piece onslaught continued and England gained more attacking penalties, but Sean Kerr was off target with two shots at goal in quick succession just after the half-hour mark. Somehow, England were still yet to register a point but that soon changed.
Four minutes before the break, the pressure finally told. After another lineout drive, on the right, the ball was shipped in-field and Angus Hall burst through a gap, before off-loading to Ioan Jones.
The full-back was stopped but England were not. Ollie Allan’s sniping run took them up to the line and from the ensuing ruck, lock Joe Bailey crashed through the French defence to score.
Kerr converted to make it 7-3, but England were pegged back right on half-time. Another penalty to France was slotted well by Reus, to reduce the gap to one point going into the second half.
A double change to the French front row just after half-time didn’t turn the tide. Castro-Perreira was sin-binned for a high tackle on Henry Pollock and, soon after, Kerr landed a penalty to make it 10-6. Then in the 53rd minute, the scrum dominance led to a second England try, as the pack drove hard and Green was able to pick up and stretch to strike from close range.
Two more penalties by Kerr reflected English command and the game was up long before Ferte raced over for a consolation try at the death, converted by Reus. France finished with some respectability on the scoreboard, but England finished with the title.
