Butler and Scott star for England

Warriors Academy duo Will Butler and James Scott were in action on Sunday as they helped England Under 20s seal a second bonus-point victory at the World Rugby U20 Championship.

Butler started at centre, while Scott came on in the second row as their country racked up seven tries in a 43-5 thrashing of Italy to cement their place at the top of Pool B of the competition.

England led 26-5 at the break with tries from Marcus Smith, Tom Parton and two for Ben Loader, while Smith kicked three conversions as they secured the four-try bonus-point before half-time.

Italy, who defeated Scotland in their opening fixture, responded through Antoine Koffi but it was all they could muster in a half dominated by Steve Bates’ side.

Second-half scores from Smith, Gabriel Ibitoye and Rory Brand added gloss to an impressive performance from England but the game ended with lock Sam Lewis red carded for an illegal tackle. You can check out the highlights by pressing play above.

England now end their Pool B fixtures against Scotland on Thursday in Beziers (kick-off 8pm BST), with the game being streamed live by worldrugby.org.

England Head Coach Steve Bates said: “It was a really good first 50 minutes. We put a lot of pressure on Italy, scored seven tries and probably could have scored a couple more.

“It was a really important step forward but we know we can improve and there is lots to come from this side.

“I thought we put them under a lot of pressure up front, we scrummaged really well and that set the platform. We took our opportunities in the first half and despite the game becoming slightly fragmented in the second period I’m still satisfied with the performance.

“We know Scotland will be a really tough challenge, but so far so good.”

England Under 20s

15 Tom Parton (London Irish)
14 Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins)
13 Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)
12 Will Butler (Worcester Warriors)
11 Ben Loader (London Irish)
10 Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
9 Rory Brand (London Irish)
1 Alex Seville (Gloucester Rugby)
2 Henry Walker (Gloucester Rugby)
3 Joe Heyes (Leicester Rugby)
4 Joel Kpoku (Saracens)
5 Sam Lewis (Leicester Tigers)
6 Tom Willis (Wasps Rugby)
7 Ben Curry C (Sale Sharks)
8 Josh Basham (London Irish)

Replacements

16 Gabriel Oghre (Wasps Rugby)
17 Ciaran Knight (Gloucester Rugby)
18 Ehren Painter (Northampton Saints)
19 James Scott (Worcester Warriors)
20 Aaron Hinkley (Gloucester Rugby)
21 Ben White (Leicester Tigers)
22 Tom Hardwick (Leicester Tigers)
23 Jordan Olowofela (Leicester Tigers)

England Under 20s fixtures

England 39-18 Argentina
England 43-5 Italy

England vs Scotland
Thursday 7 June | Kick-off 8pm BST | Highlights on ITV 4 (midnight)
Stade de la Méditerranée, Beziers

Semi-finals and ranking play-offs
12 June, Narbonne and Perpignan

Finals day
17 June, Beziers

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