Hill and Owen defeated with England U20s

England lost their opening game of the World Rugby Under 20 Championship with a 42-26 defeat against Ireland in Sante Fe, Argentina.

Warriors back row Ted Hill started the game for his country with Sixways teammate Kai Owen coming on from the bench.

England had trailed by a point at half-time despite an early try but Ireland responded with three tries in the second-half to claim victory in the opening Pool B game.

Coach Steve Bates said: “I thought we scored some good tries, but we gave away some silly tries which is disappointing.

“My message to the players was there is a lot more rugby to play. We can either feel sorry for ourselves and go into our shells or we can stick together and go out in the next game against Italy and put in a really good performance which does us justice.”

England now face Italy on Saturday 8 June (KO 7.30pm BST) in Sante Fe before ending their Pool B campaign against Australia on 12 June.

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