England reached the final of the World Rugby U20 Championship for the first time since 2018 by beating Ireland 31-20.
Tries from Craig Wright, Ollie Allan, Sean Kerr, as well as 16 points from Kerr’s boot helped England secure the win, while Ireland’s points came through tries from Oliver Coffey and Bryn Ward, with Jack Murphy contributing ten from the tee.
England will face France in the final on Friday 19 July (18:00 BST kick-off) as they look to win a fourth Championship title.
Ireland’s Coffey ran onto an offload to score after one minute and his try was converted by Murphy to give Ireland an early seven-point lead.
The scrum proved to be a good source of joy for England, as they won quick-fire penalties to return to the Irish half, and it was from a scrum penalty that they opened their account.
Having won the penalty, England kicked to the corner and patiently built from the 22 before spinning the ball wide to find Wright who galloped in untouched. Kerr converted and brought the scores level with 25 minutes played.
Soon after England were penalised for being offside and Murphy converted to make it 10-7. However, England responded immediately when Ioan Jones burst through a gap and found Allan on his inside to score under the posts. Kerr added the extras and put his side 14-10 up.
Ireland retook the lead when they went through multiple phases on the English line before Ward crossed and Murphy converted to restore their three-point advantage. Kerr levelled immediately from the restart as Ireland were penalised for blocking, but Murphy added another penalty to make it 17-20 with a minute left of the half.
Determined to have the last say, England showed great power in the carry before Allan flung the ball wide to find Kerr who went over in the corner. With Kerr receiving treatment, Ben Coen’s conversion went wide of the upright, but England finished the half 22-20 ahead.
A breathless start to the second half resulted in a penalty from Kerr on the 50-minute mark to make the score 25-20.
England’s scrum dominance continued and they won a penalty which Kerr converted just before the hour mark to extend the lead to eight points. Another dominant scrum earnt the side a penalty a few minutes later and this time they elected to kick to the corner, but after winning the lineout they conceded a penalty to let Ireland off.
A smart kick by replacement Lucas Friday saw Wright regather before offloading to Toby Cousins who was tackled five metres short. Despite knocking on, England continued to keep Ireland at bay and Junior Kpoku won a penalty with a minute to play. Kerr converted with the clock in the red to put his team through to the final with a 31-20 win.
