England U20s too strong for France in final showdown
Head coach Mark Mapletoft praised the England U20s as some of the most mentally resilient players he's ever worked with after they were crowned world champions and completed an unbeaten 2024.
The Six Nations winners ended France's dominance of the U20 World Championship with a 21-13 victory over their Six Nations rivals in South Africa on Friday night.
England's forwards outmuscled the French pack with their power up front laying the platform for lock Joe Bailey's and substitute
Arthur Green's tries, with Sean Kerr chipping in 11 points off the tee.
It is England's fourth U20s title, having not reached the final for six years, with their last triumph coming in 2016. Mapletoft had previously coached Harlequins for more than a decade and had worked as a national academy coach for the RFU from 2007-10, working with the likes of Courtney Lawes and Ben Youngs but believes the current crop are some of the best in how they overcome complications to win.
He said: “I've given these lads a lot of credit in the past about how composed they are at half time. I've worked in a lot of senior environments and the best is on a par with that.
“We were very disappointed last year having held a 10-point lead down the stretch against France in the semi-finals which somehow we were able to blow. Finn (Carnduff) and I were part of that group as well. I spoke to the coaches and analysts afterwards in the box and said ‘I think we do some things really well, there are key areas we need to do better at; firstly our defence and the other how we dealt with adversity in games, finding a way to adapt to win.' We hit those head on, we brought Haydn Thomas in from
Exeter Chiefs as an attachment coach. We were able to defend how the senior team does and there's a bit of synergy there.
“Whilst there were some teething issues during the Six Nations I think we've been magnificent in that area, as well as being awesome in the scrum. Whether it's France in Pau, the scrum getting on top against Wales, against Argentina in the first game, these lads have found a way and adapted which is something very hard to coach.”
The likes of stars Henry Pollock, Asher Opoku-Fordjour and captain Finn Carnduff will earn the bulk of media attention but it's clear England haven't had it all their own way with numerous injury setbacks.
Starting scrum-half Archie McParland, first choice fly-half George Makepeace-Cubitt and prop Scott Kirk played a crucial role in the team's Six Nations triumph but were unavailable for this summer's tournament due to injury.
The injury crisis at nine led Mapletoft to call up 17-year-old Lucas Friday, son of former Wasps player Mike, but despite his inexperience in adult rugby, Friday was one of many that played a key role from the bench.
Mapletoft added: “Lucas turned 18 last week, he's got a family pedigree with his dad (Mike) who I know well, but to come out here as a 17-year-old is quite remarkable in a high pressure position. The kid has played around 300 minutes of rugby before which is an unbelievable achievement for a well rounded, balanced young man. We lost Archie (McParland) out in Georgia and I think Ollie (Allan) and Lucas have contributed massively at scrum-half.
“In our first warm-up game against Bath, we were handed a hiding and if you had told me at the end of July we'd be world champions, I'd have probably taken some convincing. What the lads have created is an environment where the elite guys want to be in this group. Anyone who has come in has done an amazing job in terms of settling in, making an impact and really bringing their game on. The personal ownership these lads have taken at this age is staggering and bodes well for the future.”
