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Hobbs-Awoyemi looking forward to JWC final

Travis PerkinsSponsored by Travis Perkins

The clash, which will be played at the Stade de la Rabine in Vannes, northern France, is a repeat of March's Six Nations decider, won by England in Colwyn Bay.

And after having overcome tournament favourites New Zealand in the semi-final - the first ever time that England had beaten the Baby Blacks at this age group - spirits have been understandably high in the camp this week.

"Everybody had a good buzz about them after the game," the Northampton-born Hobbs-Awoyemi said. "There were a few battered bodies, but that didn't matter because we'd got such a good win.

"It was a brutal match, very physical between ourselves and New Zealand. We were flying in, trying to hit them backwards and keeping the dominance in our defence.

"But our attack was good, too, and we scored tries at crucial times. We needed to keep the points ticking over, keep on scoring and that got us the win."

After building up a 20-5 lead, England had to withstand a fearsome fightback from the Kiwis, who at one point reduced the deficit to just six points, before pulling clear in the final few minutes.

Hobbs-Awoyemi acknowledged that this test challenged the character in the England squad, commenting: "There were parts where there was a little bit of panic, but most of the time we were in control, getting around, making good tackles. It was just a couple of discipline errors on our part that let them back into the game."

It was also the first time that he had faced the Haka, and it is clear that the memory will last a long time.

"It was a great experience," said the former Moulton College student. "I just wanted to smile all the way through it because I'd never faced it before! But we had to keep our heads on for the game - I get to enjoy it now though, watching it back."

Sunday's match may be a rare opportunity for England to complete a Six Nations and Junior World Championship double, but Hobbs-Awoyemi insisted that the team will be preparing as normal. This is not least because Wales come into the game having knocked out the reigning champions, South Africa, who themselves beat England in the pool stages.

"We're going to be approaching the game the same as any other, really," he said. "We've been analysing them, analysing ourselves with what we did well against New Zealand and what we didn't do so well, and how we're going to play against Wales.

"No team is a pushover in this competition, but we know that on our day we have to play our game and hopefully that will bring us out on top.

"We've had amazing support and have all been getting tweets and messages from home, and hopefully we can win the title for our supporters, too."

You can watch to see how England get on against Wales by watching Sky Sports 2 from 5:30pm on Sunday. England's team will be announced on Saturday.

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