England scored three sparkling tries to make sure of a third win in the 2009 RBS Under 20 Six Nations against Scotland at Worcester’s Sixways Stadium home.
Gloucester centre Henry Trinder and Harlequins wing George Lowe both collected their third scores in three games with flanker Jamie Gibson (London Irish) grabbing a first touchdown for the side. Fly half Rob Miller (Newcastle Falcons) added a conversion and a penalty.
Scotland replied with a pair of penalties from full back Robbie McGowan and might have been beaten more heavily if England hadn’t contrived to lose their shape and urgency in the second half in front of another impressive crowd of 4,854 at Sixways Stadium.
At the very least they put down a benchmark for the IRB Junior World Championship this summer: the two sides meet in the pool stages in Tokyo on June 13.
England promisingly against title chasing Scotland but it was the visitors that had the first attempt at goal when Mark Mapletoft’s men can in at the side at the breakdown. Full back Robbie McGowan stepped up for a kick at goal and his fifth minute effort just had enough legs to break the deadlock.
England looked to hit back with George Lowe and Henry Trinder taking them up close before an interception was Scotland clear to touch and relieve mounting pressure. But the hosts were not to be denied and finally the breakthrough came as Trinder danced through and dived in. Rob Miller added the conversion for a 7-3 lead.
The Scottish defence was coming under increasing pressure as Chris York latched onto a long lineout and galloped clear only for his flick back inside to fail to find hands.
England were playing some fluid rugby and more slick hands and power out wide saw them rumble up close again before they were adjudged to hold on by referee Jerome Garces.
Nick Campbell led a Scottish counter with a breakout run but when he held on with no support the penalty went against him to give Miller another kicking opportunity. But his attempt lacked the power to make the target.
England broke through again just before the midway point of the half when incisive wide running saw York break clear and take two men into the tackle before feeding back row partner Jamie Gibson to score.
York was having an inspired five minutes as from the restart he broke through again and found support runners before the ball was turned over. England were winning the kicking game and with it huge territorial advantage but it was Scotland who next had an attempt at goal with McGowan’s effort pulling up short of the uprights.
Just before the half time whistle a charge down by Luke Eves almost set up Trinder for his second of the night but the next pass inside only found Scottish hands.
Seven minutes before the break Miller again lined up for a penalty attempt and this time drilled a low effort over the posts for a 15-3 lead.
A penalty kick for Scotland fell just wide of the uprights from McGowan before a dropped ball, straight after from England, led Scotland to try and snatch a try just before half time. But England put up a fight only to concede a penalty in the dying minutes and this McGowan hit the target to cut the lead to 15-6 at the break.
The second half got off to a thrilling start with England starting like a train and Lowe smashing over for a try to put daylight between the sides.
McGowan pushed a penalty wide as Scotland looked for a way back into the game with no avail and both sides were guilty of coughing up possession with continuous scrums and scrappy line outs.
Scotland’s brave hearts continued to struggle to break down the resolute English defence as the game wore on and a mini-break again came to no avail as England shut the door.
In the dying minutes, England wing Lowe hacked a loose ball towards the try line for a home chase but it was mopped up as time ran down to the final whistle and home success.
Timeline:
5m McGowan p 0-3
9m Trinder t Miller c 7-3
17m Gibson t 12-3
34m Miller p 15-3
39m McGowan c 15-6
44m Lowe t 20-6
England: 15 Greig Tonks (Clegg 40), 14 George Lowe, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Luke Eves (c), 11 James Short (Hurrell 78), 10 Rob Miller, 09 Jordi Pasqualin (White 62); 01 Joe Marler (Knight 55), 02 James Clark, 03 Ben Moon (George 60), 04 Dan Williams (Wright 60), 05 Peter Elder, 06 Jamie Gibson, 07 Jacob Rowan (Sargeant 71), 08 Chris York
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Shaun Knight, 18 Dan Wright, 19 Tom Sargeant, 20 Dan White, 21 Rory Clegg, 22 Will Hurrell