By James Orpin
This Friday will see England’s next generation look to end France’s reign on the u20 championship, it will be a battle for who can with their fourth u20’s championship with France having won the last three competitions and England not having won the competition since 2016.
England coach Mark Mapletoft spoke on how he can’t let the big occasion effect his side with it being their first u20 final since 2018, as he said “It’s about making sure at this stage we are focusing on our processes to get a good performance and we are not getting caught too much in the hype of the game which for everyone involved, noy just the players but the staff as well, it is one of the biggest games they have been involved in.”
Mapletoft also knows what kind of side his boys will be going up against in the final. Saying that France have impressed him as he said, “To be as destructive as they were in the semi-final, probably highlights everything you know about French teams; super on transition, dangerous half-backs, picking through breakdowns, looking for short sides in attack and without being stereotypical they are really good at all of that, and you saw it in abundance.”
With knowing how deadly this France side can be, with them being the top points scorers so far in this tournament, England will hope not to have the same kind of start theu had in the semi-final, conceding in the first minute.
However, this young side not for the first time this year overcame the problems and found ways to win. English captain Finn Carduff on how his side manages to deal with problems in matches said, “Finding a way, is making sure we go back to what we are good at and finding a way to get back to the gameplan and then the result will follow from that and trust in what we’ve previewed and what we believe in as a team, and we will get results that way”.
Carduff will lead his side out for the final time as he wins his 20th cap on Friday. With the team news for the side being Kane James starts at No. 8 alongside loose forward partners Carnduff and Henry Pollock in the only change to the pack from the 31-20 semi-final win over Ireland.
Ben Waghorn returns to the starting XV at outside centre after missing the semi-final and partners Sean Kerr, who contributed 21 points against Ireland, in the midfield.
Versatile back Angus Hall is a replacement for this week’s game, while back row Arthur Green could earn his second cap and takes his place on the replacements bench alongside Hall.
Ben Coen continues at fly half after coming in at the start of the tournament and has impressed with his coach Mapletoft saying, “We’ve always said to everyone if you come into the environment and put your head down and work hard and you add value then you will get opportunities and he’s done exactly that”.
He will have a tough job is facing someone who has been one of the players of the tournament and a player his captain picked out as a player his side must look out for as Carduff said, “Hugo Reus at ten is an established top 14 player already for La Rochelle so we know he’s going to bring a lot of quality pulling the strings for them.”
England have repeated though throughout this tournament though that to gain victory they must continue to focus on their own game, so yes whilst they will know the dangers of the French captain and the rest of his team, they will stick to what has worked for them this year as they look to end 2024 with a double of the Six Nations and the u20 championship title.
The match to decide who will leave this tournament in South Africa smothered in glory will take place at six O’clock at the DHL stadium in Cape Town.
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