Strong performance by England U20s

(Report from Englandrugby.com)

England, playing in their first of three fixtures this season and under the new guidance of former England captain Jo Yapp, ran in three tries on route to the win.

They were disrupted early on with the loss of Matilda Vaughan-Fowler to injury and the Army made the most of this running in an 18th minute try courtesy of Cpl Jade Mullen who found some space on the right wing. However shortly afterwards a well worked line-out, catch and drive saw the ball moved out into the midfield and a great attacking line from Rachel Lund saw her cut through the Army’s defence to score under the posts. Fly-half Sarah Nicholas converted and then added a penalty to take a 10-5 lead.

The Army hit back with England paying the price for some missed tackles which saw fly-half Sgt Amy Robinson finding space and scoring on the left wing. Robinson couldn’t, however, convert her own try while a second Nicholas penalty handed England a 13-10 lead at half-time.

After the restart, England further increased their lead with a great team try. Sweeping the run of play from the left to the right wing, replacement Devon Holt was tackled just short of the try line but Olivia Jones was in support to pick up and score. Nicholas was as consistent as ever with the boot to stretch England’s lead to 20-10. England then added their final try when replacement Amy Cokayne, who picked up her first senior cap on Sunday, beat a defender with a pick and go, and scored to make the final score 25-10.

RFU Player Development Manager Andy Paton said: “The Army provided us with strong and physical opposition tonight and that is exactly what we wanted ahead of a two Test series against France U20s. This was a really pleasing result from a young and inexperienced team, who will now be feeling buoyant ahead of playing France next weekend.”

England U20s (Name, Club, CB, Region, AASE): 15 Rachel Lund (Worcester, Yorkshire, Midlands), 14 Matilda Vaughan-Fowler (Bristol, South West), 13 Charlotte Holland (Bath, Devon, South West), 12 Emily Wood (Lichfield, Gloucestershire, South West), 11 Charlotte Clapp (Saracens, South East), 10 Sarah Nicholas (Lichfield, Staffordshire, Midlands), 9 Caity Mattinson (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, Gloucestershire, North) C, 1 Abbie Parsons (Bristol, Berkshire, South West) VC, 2 Lark Davies (Worcester, North Midlands, Midlands), 3 Katie Trevarthen (Camp Hill, Notts, Lincs & Derby, Midlands), 4 Amy Wigley (Worcester, North Midlands, Midlands) , 5 Olivia Jones (Bristol, Oxfordshire, South West), 6 Abigail Walker (Worcester, Gloucestershire, South West), 7 Sarah Bern (Esher, Surrey, South East, Hartpury College), 8 Sally Stott (Vale of Lune, Lancashire, North). Replacements: 16 May Campbell (Bristol, Hertfordshire, South West), 17 Amy Cokayne (Lichfield, Midlands),18 Henrietta Burkinshaw (Lichfield, Yorkshire, North), 19 Catherine O'Donnell (Vale of Lune, Cumbria, North), 20 Rebecca Trist (Worcester, Lancashire, South West), 21 Devon Holt (Bristol, Berkshire, South West), 22 Zoe Aldcroft (Hartpury, Yorkshire, North, Hartpury College), 23 Lucy Nye (Lichfield, Devon , South West), Lund for Aldcroft (73 mins)

Tries: Lund, Jones, Cokayne

Conversions: Nicholas (2)

Penalties: Nicholas (2)

Substitutions: Vaughan-Fowler off for Holt (13 mins), Parsons off for Campbell, Davies off for Cokayne, Trevarthen off for Burkinshaw (all 48 mins), Jones off for O’Donnell, Nicholas off for Nye, Walker off for Trist (both 71 mins),

Army: 15. Cpl Carrie Roberts, 14. Cpl Jade Mullen, 13. OCdt Louise Dodd, 12. Sgt Sarah Mitchelson, 11. Bdr Bethan Dainton, 10. Sgt Amy Robinson, 9. Cpl Jane Leonard, 1 LCpl Sarah Batley, 2. Sgt Rae Metters, 3. Cpl Bianca Dawson , 4. Sgt Rosie Haigh, 5. Pte Ellie Gattlin,6. Lt Erica Mills, 7. Cpl Tara McGlade, 8. Lt Jade Binskin-Barnes. Replacements: 16. Maj Jenny Connell, 17. Maj Charlie Maxwell, 18. Capt Verity Skinner, 19. Lt Leah Thomson, 20. Pte Kayleigh Clemes, 21. Pte Heidi Silcox, 22. Cpl Lou Steer, 23. Bdr Katie Garside.

Tries: Mullen, Robinson

Referee: Ian Bibey

Half-time score: England 13 Army 10

England U20s playing schedule:

England 25 Army 10, Tuesday February 17, Aldershot Army Rugby Stadium

France v England, Saturday February 28, KO 1pm GMT, Stade Sainte-Germaine, Bordeaux

England v France, Saturday March 21, KO 2pm, Esher RFC