Paolo Odogwu scored two of the six tries as England beat Italy 39-12 in the bronze final of the Rugby Europe Under-18 Championship in Toulouse on Saturday.The age-group side started brightly despite the difficult and wet conditions in France, scoring four tries in the first spell to lead 29-0 at half-time.
The second half proved tougher as Italy began to work their way into the match and were able hit back twice in response to England’s two tries scored in that period.
The result leaves England in third place with the final being played between France and Georgia.
John Fletcher, head coach said: “We came here with the goal to win all three games and continue to improve our performances. We are disappointed not to win but overall it has been a pleasing competition in terms of players improving and spending time together.
“We will be looking forward to the under-19 games coming up and then the South African tests in August.”
England convincingly beat Portugal 85-5 in the opening game of the tournament last weekend before losing out to a strong French side 21-17 mid-week.
England Under-18
15 Johnny McPhillips (Newcastle Falcons, Sedbergh School)
14 Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins, Trinity College)
13 Dominic Morris (Saracens, New Hall School)
12 Max Malins (Saracens, Felsted)
11 Paolo Odogwu (Leicester Tigers, Leicester Grammar School)
10 Mark Dixon (Sale Sharks, Lymm HS)
9 Jack Maunder (Exeter Chiefs) (c)
1 Jake Pope (Sale Sharks, Myerscough College)
2 Curtis Langdon (London Irish, St Pauls Sunbury)
3 Charlie Capps (Prince Henry’s, Yorkshire Carnegie)
4 Josh Caulfield (Exeter Chiefs, Bicton College)
5 Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, Haileybury College)
6 Archie White (Harlequins, Epsom College)
7 Will Allman (Northampton Saints, Trent College)
8 Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby, Merchiston Castle School)
Replacements
16 Dan Frost (Bath Rugby, Filton College)
17 Oliver Dawe (Exeter Chiefs, Bicton College)
18 Jack Edmondson (Bath Rugby, Sherborne)
19 Tim Cardall (Northampton Saints, Moulton College)
20 Joe Craggs (Newcastle Falcons, Gosforth Academy)
21 Will Evans (Leicester Tigers, Wyggeston & QEI College)
22 Alex Mitchell (Sale Sharks, Lymm HS)
23 Darren Atkins (Bath Rugby, Millfield School)
24 Max Wright (Yorkshire Carnegie, Prince Henry’s)
25 Sam Aspland-Robinson (Harlequins, Welling College)
News
England Under-18s win bronze medal match
7 April 2015 8:43 AM
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