Baby Boks beat England U20 in Cape Town

ENGLAND U20s went down 28-15 to a clinical South Africa at the Cape Town Stadium in the IRB Junior World Championship last night.

Bedford Blues winger and former Barton and Harlington schoolboy Josh Bassett came off the bench along with dual-registered Saracens team-mate Ben Ransom and ex-Luton starlet Ben Nutley, but they could do nothing to save England from defeat.

After a low scoring, but physical, first half the Baby Boks came out of the blocks all guns blazing in the second period scoring four tries on the way to a bonus point win.

The loss means England will not contest the semi-finals for the first time since the competition’s inception in 2008. Instead they prepare for a fifth place semi-final against Six Nations rivals Ireland.

Head Coach Rob Hunter’s side had the first chance to get on the scoreboard but first Tom Heathcote and then Tommy Bell missed difficult kicks.

England were forced into making a 30th-minute change when fly-half Heathcote went off with a knock and was replaced by Ransom, with Bell moving to 10.

Bell got the first points of the game, kicking three points from just over halfway to make it 3-0 at the break.

After a low-scoring first 40, the second half brought 17 points in just eight minutes. Bell’s second successful kick was sandwiched between two well-worked tries for the Baby Boks.

First William Small-Smith ran clear to score before Shaun Adendorff made it 14-6 with 30 minutes left to play.

A couple of quick-fire Bell penalties again brought England to within a point, but South Africa hit back with two tries to claim the crucial bonus point.

Another Bell penalty got England to within 13 points and two converted tries would have been enough to send them through, but the breakthrough never came.

Captain Chris Walker was understandably upset with the result: “We’re absolutely gutted to be honest,” he said. “We thought we contained them well in the first half and perhaps edged it, but credit where it’s due, they really turned it on in the second 40.

“But there are still two games to play and while we’re obviously fairly down at the minute, we’ll pick ourselves up and we’ll be ready to take on the Irish.”

England v South Africa: 1 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), 2 Koree Britton (Gloucester Rugby), 3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), 4 Sam Twomey (Harlequins), 5 George Merrick (Harlequins), 6 Billy Vunipola (London Wasps), 7 Chris Walker (C, Leeds Carnegie), 8 Jack Clifford (Harlequins), 9 Dan Robson (Gloucester Rugby), 10 Tom Heathcote (Bath Rugby), 11 Charlie Walker (Harlequins), 12 Ryan Mills (Gloucester Rugby), 13 Sam Hill (Exeter Chiefs), 14 Marland Yarde (London Irish), 15 Tommy Bell (London Wasps). Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris (London Wasps) on for Koree Britton 62 mins, 17 Alec Hepburn (London Wasps) on for Luke Cowan-Dickie 62 mins, 18 Ross Harrison (Sale Sharks) on for Kyle Sinckler 67 mins, 19 David Sisi (London Irish) on for George Merrick 70 mins, 20 Ben Nutley (Northampton) on for Billy Vunipola 42 mins, 21 Ben Spencer (Saracens) on for Dan Robson 67 mins, 22 Josh Bassett (Bedford Blues) on for Charlie Walker 55 mins, 23 Ben Ransom (Saracens) on for Tom Heathcote 30 mins. P: Bell 5.