Nick Cain: At least one England team has belief to beat the world

Character. It’s a hard one to define on a big sporting occasion, but what we do know is that where Nick Walshe’s England U20 World Junior rugby champions have got it coursing through their veins, Roy Hodgson’s round-ballers appear to have a severe deficiency.
The England U20s victory by 21-20 over South Africa in the IRB World Junior Championship final in Auckland, which saw them retain the title for the second year in succession – making Walshe the most successful coach in English rugby – deserved a far bigger live audience than the scattered few at Eden Park who witnessed it.
It saw them face down not only a massive South African side, but, face down adversity, in the sense that not everything went their way. In fact, at times, the young Englishmen looked as if they might be overwhelmed by their huge adversaries.
However, when they were on the brink of defeat in Auckland their self-belief and collective resolve remained intact, and rather than buckling – as the England footballers did against Uruguay in São Paulo – they dug in and battled to victory.
They did it despite their leading try scorer, Nathan Earle, being a passenger in defence for the last 50 minutes due to a rib injury. They did it in spite of a line-out which totally malfunctioned in the first-half. They did it even though Billy Burns – who played well otherwise – missed a straightforward 61st minute penalty which would have put them 24-13 ahead, leaving South Africa with a mountain to climb.
Even more critically, they did it after a late momentum swing which saw Jesse Kriel bag his second try, converted by Handre Pollard, leaving England clinging on to a precarious one point lead for the last 15 minutes.
It was then that the character of the side was tested to the utmost, and, as they rallied around captain Maro Itoje, each of them did their utmost to repel the inevitable South African blitzkrieg. Not only did Itoje and his lads refuse to crumble, they gained territory, and, using the driving maul and pick-and-drive expertly, refused to give South Africa another opening.
It was a tribute to a group of England players who thought on their feet and adapted when it mattered, and also to Walshe for encouraging them to do so. He is clearly a coach to watch, having sustained the drive and focus after taking the England U20s to their first title by beating Wales 23-15 in France last year.
Nothing typified England’s determination and tenacity more than the centre pairing of Harry Sloan and Nick Tompkins, whose fierce charge made Earle’s first-half try. Both men were dwarfed by the South Africans opposite, with Sloan – no lightweight at 6ft 2ins and 16st (102kg) – opposite Andre Esterhuizen, who, at 6ft 4ins and 16st 10lbs (106kg), was the same size as England lock Charlie Ewels. Meanwhile, Tompkins, at 6ft and 14st (89kg), was giving away over a stone in weight to Jesse Kriel.
Both the Englishmen were flattened making attempted tackles, but they bounced back up and came at the South Africans again…and again. It was a night when character had its reward.
*This article was first published in The Rugby Paper on June 22.