Worcester Warriors pair Matt Kvesic and Andy Short grabbed tries as England Under-20 secured their first 6 Nations Grand Slam win since 2008 with a comprehensive six try 41-15 victory against Ireland in Athlone on Friday night.
Tries from Harlequins lock Charlie Matthews, Gloucester Rugby centre Ryan Mills, Sixways duo Kvesic and Short, Northampton Saints hooker Mike Haywood and Newcastle Falcons No. 8 and Captain Alex Gray secured the win. Leicester Tigers fly half George Ford added four penalties and two conversions.
England drew first blood through the boot of Ford who slotted two early penalties to give the away side a 6-0 lead with eight minutes played before Ireland hit back with three points of their own in a frenetic opening passage of play.
Jonathan Joseph spilled a glorious chance to give England the opening try after 25 minutes, dropping a pass metres away from the line when clean through. But the deadlock was broken after a special moment for the forward pack who combined with the precision of any good back line.
A wonderful break forward from Bristol Rugby No. 1 Mako Vunipola was offloaded to his front row partner, Sale Sharks’ Henry Thomas, who held off one challenge before offloading to lock Matthews who dived over in the corner.
Minutes after scoring his try, Matthews was sinbinned for a stamp and Ireland made their man advantage count, pushing a scrum over the line for a converted try. The hosts were then just one point within England at 11-10, but Rob Hunter’s side, still down to 14, added 10 points to the scoreboard before the break.
First Joe Launchbury came close to scoring for England, but his effort was not given by the third match official who deemed Matt Everard to have been offside in the build up.
Shortly afterward, Ford converted a penalty and then Mills made a nice break through the heart of the Irish back line to touch down for his first try of the competition to make the score 21-10 at the break.
England started the second half at pace, scoring two quick tries as Ireland struggled to cope. Kvesic barged his way over after a nice line break from Bath Rugby scrum half Chris Cook who passed to Ford who moved the ball on to the Worcester Warriors man.
Haywood then burrowed over the line for his first try in an England shirt to make the score 36-10.
Ireland gave themselves a small lifeline not long after when hooker David Doyle scored out on the wing but England hit back with two more late tries from Short and Gray to secure a memorable victory and the 6 Nations title.
Meanwhile, England Women – who included Worcester stars Katherine Merchant, Rochelle Clark, Heather Fisher and Danielle Waterman – put the heartache of losing the Rugby World Cup Final behind them tonight when they secured a record breaking sixth successive RBS 6 Nations title and a Grand Slam, defeating Ireland 31-0 at Ashbourne RFC.
Gary Street’s side, who came so close to winning the Rugby World Cup in September losing only 13-10 to New Zealand, bagged the title with another record breaking effort – conceding an unprecedented number of points all tournament with just eight points against them.
Tries from skipper Katy McLean, No. 8 Sarah Hunter, props Rochelle Clark and Sophie Hemming and flanker Margaret Alphonsi handed England the silverware on a fine and dry evening in Ashbourne.
England Head Coach, who has now guided England to four Six Nations titles, said: “Obviously I am absolutely delighted with this result, but most importantly the effort from the players. After the world cup there could have been a hangover but it is an absolute credit to the girls the way they have come back and put the work in on and off the field.
“We have challenged the players this season, we wanted them to get even better and move on from last term and they have done exactly that.
“Once again tonight not only did we score some good tries but we defended excellently. We have set another championship record in terms of points conceded and I think that is a tremendous achievement.”
Skipper Katy McLean led by example in this showdown finale by handing England a 5-0 lead after just eight minutes. After several phases of sustained pressure in Ireland’s 22, and several attempts to cross the try line, the Darlington Mowden Park fly-half found a space and broke off a tackle to run in and score from ten metres out. McLean, however, couldn’t add the conversion.
Lichfield No.8 Sarah Hunter handed England a 10-0 lead after 22 minutes with a typical push over try after England continued to dominate territory and possession. McLean, this time, added the conversion and despite Ireland losing Joy Neville to the sin-bin that was where the score stayed until after the break. Ireland also had their chance between the posts with a 33rd minute penalty but Niamh Briggs couldn’t convert.
Street rolled on the replacements after the break with Rowena Burnfield and England’s world cup captain Catherine Spencer getting their chance, but it was prop Clark who crossed the try line for the third time in two games. Handing the defending champions a 17-0 cushion Clark, just like Hunter before her, picked up and powered her way over the line to score England’s third try. With McLean adding the conversion England had established a very healthy 19-0 lead.
Some impressive handling by Katherine Merchant to keep the ball in play then gave replacement Danielle Waterman the chance to make space. With Hemming in support Waterman popped the ball up to the prop who then barged her way over for her first ever England try.
McLean couldn’t convert but it didn’t matter as England continued the rout with Alphonsi this time adding the fifth and decisive try. Spencer, however, did the hard yards for Alphonsi with a great pick up and drive from the back of the scrum. The powerhouse flanker then took the ball on to score in extra time. With McLean adding the conversion England wrapped up the 31-0 victory, a sixth successive title and the Grand Slam to boot.