The SA International u/18 Series started with the match between England u/18 and France u/18 hosted at Boland Landbou on Friday. England u/18 dominated play from the start with brilliant 15-man rugby to thrash France u/18 41-00.
England u/18 was superb in the first half dominating France u/18 in possession and territory. England u/18 has shown that they have plenty of speed out wide, backed up by aggressive defence from which they counter-attacked on several occasions. France u/18 which ended the first half with fourteen players following a late yellow card was lucky to trail by just 00-19.
A great start by France in the second half, unfortunately, did not result in points on the scoreboard. England attacked from anywhere on the field and scored another four tries almost at will to deservedly win 41-00
England u/18 dominated the open exchanges of the match, pinning down Franch u/18 in their own 22m for most of the first ten minutes. England's first real try-scoring opportunity came from a 5m lineout-maul from which they scored their first try. England took an early 07-00 lead after 10 minutes of play.
England u/18 continued their pressure, launching wave after wave of attacks and scoring their second try ten minutes later to extend their lead to 12-00. Although, France started to claw their way back into the match a brilliant kick pass led to England u/18's scoring their third try after 30 minutes of play to lead 19-00.
Despite France u/18's starting the second half like a house on fire, England u/18 scored their fourth try after taking a quick tap from 5m from the French u/18 tryline. England added their second try of the second half minutes later when their star wing Charlie Griffon scored a brilliant individual try which started in England's u/18's 22m.
The last ten minutes of the match became a bit scrappy, however, England scored their sixth try following great interplay between their players. England added their fourth try of the second half with time already up on the clock and deservedly won 41-00 after seventy minutes of play.
Scorers:
England u18: Tries: Kepueli Tuipulotu, Angus Hall (2), Charlie Griffin (2), Billy Sela, Finlay Wiseman. Conversions: Ollie Davies (3).
Teams:
England u/18: 15 Jack Bracken, 14 Angus Hall, 13 Nick Lilley, 12 Toby Baker, 11 Charlie Griffin, 10 Ollie Davies, 9 Lucas Friday, 8 Solomon Shand, 7 Charlie West, 6 Ronan Daniell, 5 Olamide Sodeke, 4 Junior Kpoku, 3 Billy Sela, 2 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 1 Will Conduit. Replacements: 16 Alfie Longstaff, 17 Jamie Miller, 18 Sam Graham, 19 Tayo Adegbemile, 20 Connor Treacey, 21 Jack Lightbown, 22 Dom Hanson, 23 Louie Platt, 24 Toby Wilson, 25 Finlay Wiseman, 26 Finn Newton.
France u/18: 15 Thomas Alary, 14 Jeremy Nemor, 13 Bastien Rasal, 12 Quentin Valentino, 11 Charly Mignot, 10 Diego Jurd, 9 Nathan Llaveria, 8 Ellyjah Ibsaiene (c), 7 Marceau Marzullo, 6 Eliott Duthil, 5 Romeo Martin Bonnard, 4, Dany Kevin Lamataki, 3 Thomas Marceline, 2 Ethan Tia, 1 Samuel Jean Christophe. Replacements: 16 Liam Courturier, 17 Edcuard-Junior Jabea Njocke, 18 Gabin Garault, 19 Pargade Ruben-Diego, 20 Noe Theraube, 21 Temanatus Boichot, 22 Luka Keletaona, 23 Adrien Drault.
