England U18s 23 - 14 Scotland U18s

England U18s gave their selectors plenty of food for thought after an impressive victory over plucky Scotland in their second match of this season’s Home Unions Tournament. England made 11 changes from their opening day win over Ireland but produced some superb rugby to take the win.

“At times we played some outstanding rugby with the power of the forwards combining with the flair and pace of the backs,” said head coach Graham Whitmore. “We knew that it would be hard and that the Scots would not lie down and so it proved. They never gave in, came back strongly and really tested our defence. But we really enjoyed the game and, with all the changes we made, we are very satisfied.

“It’s set things up nicely for the last game of the tournament against Wales but we know that we will have to step up our performance for that one. But the 11 guys who came in tonight have really put their hats into the ring and the selectors are going to have some key decisions to make in the next 24 hours.”

Left wing David Smith (Colchester RGS, Colchester, Northampton Saints and Eastern Counties) enhanced his chances of playing against Wales by scoring two brilliant individual tries. Smith outpaced Scotland’s defence to sprint down the left touchline for the first after ten minutes, then came off his wing and sliced through again 12 minutes into the second half.

Full-back Alex Tait (Barnard Castle School, Newcastle Falcons and Durham) showed some of the skills of his elder brother Mat, the Newcastle and England centre, with several mazy runs, one of which set up England’s third try for replacement number eight Callum Clark (Barnard Castle School, Leeds Tykes and Yorkshire).

Lock Charles Gardiner (Peter Symonds’ College, London Irish and Hampshire) and tighthead prop Alex Corbisiero (American Community School, London Irish and Surrey) also made several telling contributions but England had to withstand a late Scotland fightback.

Tom Bury followed up a speculative kick ahead to score their first try and another hack-on allowed centre Chris Kinloch to pounce for the second. Both of Scotland’s tries were scored by James Murray.

Replacement fly-half Robert Miller (Keswick School, Newcastle Falcons and Cumbria) landed a penalty in between Scotland’s tries which kept England at least two scores clear. Miller also converted Clark’s try and Mark Davies (St Peter’s HS, Gloucester and Gloucestershire) landed a first half penalty.

Wales won the day’s opening game, beating Ireland 35-14 at Lydney after they had trailed until the final minute of the first half. Winger Leigh Halfpenny’s score just before the break gave Wales a lead that they built on with three more tries in the second half. Wales have yet to lose a game in the eight-year history of the tournament and were joint winners with England last season.

The final round of matches will be played at Cheltenham’s Prince of Wales Stadium on Friday1 where Ireland play Scotland at 2pm with the England v Wales match following immediately.

England U18s: 15 Alex Tait (Barnard Castle School, Newcastle Falcons and Durham); 14 John Bordiss (St Benedict’s School, London Wasps and Middlesex), 13 Ben Williams (Bryanston School, Bath and Dorset & Wilts), 12 Gareth Griffiths (Colston’s Collegiate School, Bristol and Gloucestershire), 11 David Smith (Colchester RGS, Colchester, Northampton Saints and Eastern Counties); 10 Mark Davies (St Peter’s HS, Gloucester and Gloucestershire), 9 Spencer Eke (Leicester Tigers and Leicestershire); 1 Billy Moss (Tonbridge School, Tonbridge Juddians and Kent), 2 George Thomas (Bromsgrove School, Luctonians, Worcester Warriors and North Midlands), 4 Charles Gardiner (Peter Symonds’ College, London Irish and Hampshire), 5 Daniel Williams (Ivybridge School, South West England Regional Academy and Devon), 6 Matthew Cox (Worcester Warriors and North Midlands), 7 John Brake (Millfield School, Northampton Saints and Surrey), 8 Edward Jackson (Millfield School, Bath and Somerset – captain). Replacements used: Sebestian Stegmann (Cranleigh School, NEC Harlequins and Surrey) for Bordiss 53, Natha Catt (Bath College, Bath and Somerset) for Corbisiero 61, Robert Miller (Keswick School, Newcastle Falcons and Cumbria) for Davies 45, Danny Pointon (St Peter’s HS, Gloucester and Gloucestershire) for Eke 20, Scott Hobson (Truro College, South West England Regional Academy and Cornwall) for Gardiner 53), Callum Clark (Barnard Castle School, Leeds Tykes and Yorkshire) for Jackson 20, Jack Steadman (Bryanston School, Bristol and Somerset) for Moss 61, Luke Eves (Colston’s Collegiate School, Bristol and Gloucestershire) for B Williams 53.