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English scrummaging masterclass secures final spot at World Rugby U20 Championship

BY Philip Bendon  ·  Sunday Jul 14, 2024

Mark Mapletoft’s England punched their ticket to the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship courtesy of a dominant scrummaging performance.

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Dominating the second half to secure a 31 – 20 win, England had the bulk of possession and territory as they rarely looked threatened in the second forty.

Mimicking their senior team, Ireland hung around despite being utterly obliterated in the scrum to the point that any time the two sides packed down it was nearly guaranteed to be a penalty to England.

Spearheading this excellence at the set piece, England’s front row of Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Craig Wright and Afolabi Fasogbon went forward at a rate of knots.

Capitalising on the advantage of his pack, centre Sean Kerr slotted three penalties to go with his two conversions. It wasn’t just from the tee where Kerr was superb but also in general play as he topped the carries charts for his side.

Elsewhere the electric talent that is Henry Pollock fizzed into contact both in attack and defence as he completed 16 tackles.

For Ireland, captain Brian Gleeson showed his class to get away from a scrum that was back pedalling and put in some huge tackles with his shot on Sean Kerr being felt by all in the stadium.

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England will now wait to see who they will face in the final when New Zealand take on France in the second semi-final with Ireland facing the loser.

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