England Women U20s run in eight tries in USA victory by Julia Hutton

England U20s 40 USA U20s 7

England Women Under 20s are still on track to retain their Nations Cup crown after another convincing win today (Sunday), this time against the USA at Brunel University.

The England young guns ran in eight tries in a very physical game. Both sides showed immense commitment throughout the match and although England created a number of opportunities the USA never gave up, most noticeably when they touched down for a 70th minute try.

England, however, set the tone of the match very early on with some good continuity play, and with both the backs and the forwards making inroads through the USA’s defence, a pick up from the back of a ruck saw Leeds lock Charlotte Wild dive over the line after just eight minutes.

Centre Alex Cook, who came in as a late change for England, handed England a comfortable 10-0 lead after nearly as many minutes when some good running by Gemma Rowland in the mid-field created space for Cook to score.

Worcester wing Sam Bree, who scored a hat-trick of tries in England’s Nations Cup opener against Canada, was back on the score sheet again after 16 minutes. After some good work at the break-down by Hannah Walker Smart the ball was recycled out to the backs and then passed out-wide to Bree who ran in from 22 metres out.

With the USA losing lock Brittany Rose to the sin bin for a high tackle England created a 20-0 lead at the break with prop Vicky Cornborough battling her way through the US’s defence to score.

The one way traffic continued after the restart, this time with captain Marlie Packer leading by example. The Bath flanker took the ball from a good line-out to drive over the line, while some more excellent work by the forwards saw replacement Natasha Hunt also run in for a try from 22 metres out.

A 50th minute score by Kim Davey saw England claim their seventh try of the afternoon before Lizell Heather claimed the home side’s final touch down on 64 minutes. This time some good turn over ball saw Reading’s Hannah Field pick up and get the ball out to Heather. The winger still had some work to do but she beat the US defence to run in and score.

The USA never gave up though and finally they were able to get some points on the board in the dying minutes of the match. They battered England’s defence and finally Rose picked up from the back of a ruck to dive over the line. Catherine Parkhill converted to make the final score 40-7.

England U20s Head Coach Giselle Mather said: “Several players were making their first starts for England today and I was thrilled with the way they stepped up. At the start we struggled to cope with the USA’s blitz defence but we got to grips with it and started to apply the pressure, enabling us to get some good continuity together.

“To score eight tries is always a great achievement but I am especially pleased with the way the team reorganised themselves after some late changes. With Wales beating Canada today, that certainly makes for an exciting fixture against Wales on Wednesday.”

England:

15 Kimberley Davey (Richmond), 14 Lizell Heather (Kettering), 13 Alex Cook (Bath), 12 Gemma Rowland (Exeter University), 11 Samantha Bree (Worcester), 10 Sarah McKenna (Old Albanian Saints) Vice Captain, 9 Hannah Walker-Smart (Paviors), 1 Victoria Cornborough (Richmond), 2 Davinia Monteiro (Bath), 3 Elizabeth Peak (Oakmedians), 4 Amy Millar (Reading), 5 Charlotte Wild (Leeds Met Uni), 6 Juliet Short (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 7 Marlie Packer (Bath) Captain, 8 Harriet Mills (Manchester). Replacements: 16 Charlotte Male (Plymouth Albion), 17 Sasha Acheson (Sudbury), 18 Nicola Hoole (Bath), 19 Hannah Field (Reading), 20 Jessie-Joy Flowers (West Park), 21 Claire Garner (Leeds Leos), 22 Natasha Hunt (Bath)

Tries: Wild, Cook, Bree, Cornborough, Packer, Hunt, Davey, Heather
Conversions:
Penalties:
Substitutions: Hunt for Cook (20), Field for Packer (55), Acheson for Cornborough (55), Hoole for Mills (58), Garner for McKenna (60), Male for Millar (60), Flowers for Walker-Smart (60)

USA:

15 Sadie Anderson, 14 Tyra McGrady, 13 Brooke LeGate, 12 Lisa Henneman, 11 Asia Donaldson, 10 Amelia Villines, 9 Brittany Houston, 1 Katherine Hathaway, 2 Brittany Woodard, 3 Mallory Ives, 4 Rebecca Holmes, 5 Brittany Rose, 6 Erin LeGate, 7 Jozephine Gessner, 8 Candace Barley. Replacements: 16 Erika Lane, 17 Wendy Sherman, 18 Rachel Sommer, 19 Catherine Parkhill, 20 Erica Cavanaugh, 21 Kathryn Johnson, 22 Jessica Sexauer.

Tries: Rose
Conversions: Parkhill
Penalties:

Referee: Sherry Trumbull (Canada)
Assistant Referees: Natalie Amor & Christine Goldfinch

Half-time score: England 20 USA 0

Under 20s Nations Cup playing schedule:

July 9th
Wales vs. USA 5pm
Canada vs. England 7pm

July 12th

Canada vs. Wales, 130pm
England vs. USA, 330pm

July 15th
Canada vs. USA, 5pm
England vs. Wales, 7pm

July 18th

Consolation Finals, 130pm
Final, 330pm