Under a full moon at the DHL stadium, the Under 20’s World Championship came to an enthralling end as England emerged victorious for the first time in the tournament since 2016 and denied France a fourth championship in a row.
The victory completes a historic Six Nations and World Championship double, going undefeated in 2024.
England have dominated the tournament thanks to a mightily impressive forward pack that has smashed everything in its path. The French flair has been mesmerizing all tournament, but they fell just short of the trophy as they couldn’t overcome England’s dominance.
Across the tournament, it’s been clear just how bright and promising the young rugby talent across the competing nations is. There have been tight contests and dazzling performances in every game, punctuated by a classic final won by a deserving side.
The passion was fully on show from both sides, right from the anthems, in the biggest game of these young players’ lives.
If history tells us one thing, it is that the man who fills the fly-half shirt has always been critical to the continual success of these French Under-20s sides. From Romain Ntmack to Louis Carbonel and now Hugo Reus, this year, the French have yet another Rolls Royce of a young number 10. Reus’ goal-kicking has been near perfect, and he has expertly controlled the attacking flair and ambition of his side. Despite this loss, he is a keen one to watch for the future of French rugby.
It’s not often that a first half of rugby as low-scoring as this one was can be quite so entertaining, but both of these sides were out for glory and left everything on the pitch. It was everything you could ask from a final with two top-class teams operating with different tactics coming at full force against one another.
Right from the off, the English pack got to work, earning a penalty from the very first scrum. Paired with dominant hits from their rush defence, this provided a dominant platform for them to build from for the rest of the game.
A couple of early mistakes five metres out from the French try line in the opening ten minutes were frustrating missed opportunities for England. France quickly penalised them as Reus got the first points on the board from the tee for France.
France almost entered further into the lead with a scorcher of an opening try, finished off by fullb-ack Mathis Ferte after some gorgeous offloading. However, a TMO check denied the score due to an earlier forward pass, but warning signs were blaring for England.
England were denied another scoring opportunity immediately after a dominant rolling maul was miraculously held up and England returned the favour quickly after thanks to an intercept from Alex Wills.
Finally, it seemed England would enter the scoring from Sean Kerr. However, the ever-reliable kicker and second top points scorer in the competition missed two from the tee in quick succession, to the agony of the England fans.
Relief finally came as they got over the whitewash from close range, thanks to Joe Bailey for the opening try of the final.
With the final act of the half, Reus got France another three points, scoring another penalty and bringing it to a one-point game at the break.
It was a poor start for the French as their star backrower of the game so far, Mathis Castro, who had already singlehandedly won three turnovers himself, was sent to the bin for a high shot on Henry Pollock.
Immediately, England won a penalty after a patient build-up, and Kerr scored the points to extend the lead.
With the extra man advantage, especially in the forwards, the try was inevitable, and Arthur Green stretched over from yet more scrum dominance that the French just couldn’t cope with.
Kerr kept the scoreboard ticking with yet another penalty, just ensuring the England lead kept rolling onwards and repeated it again almost exactly ten minutes later, taking the lead almost beyond reach.
The French entered a stage of desperation as the game entered the final stages. Tempers flared with frustration boiling over, but every bounce was beginning to go England’s way, as momentum was with the dominant side.
Finn Carnduff won a late turnover on his own line, leading from the front and fighting for every man beside him. The cries of joy came from the England bench, knowing that the first championship win in eight years was now beyond doubt.
The boys in the England brotherhood kept fighting until the final buzzer, but a wonderful passing move finished by Ferte finished off the game but it wasn’t enough as the roars went for the English Red Rose machine.
England: Jones, Hall, Waghorn, Kerr, Wills, Coen, Allen, Opoku-Fordjour, Wright, Fasogbon, Bailey, Kpoku, Carnduff (c), Pollock, James
Replacements: Isaacs, Miell, Halliwell, Sodeke, Green, Friday, Bellamy, Bracken
France: Ferte, Biasotto, Brau-Boirie, Taccola, Mousques, Reus (c), Carbonneau, Julien, Massa, Duchene, Gambini, Mezou, Karaba, Malaterre, Castro
Replacements: Lacombre, Jean-Christophe, Marceline, Kante-Samba, Liufau, Tolofua, Belaubre, Desperes
Written by William Gupwell
