England 24-23 Italy
ENGLAND BOUNCED BACK, though only just, after defeat to Ireland with a win over Italy at the World Rugby U20 Championship.
The perennial finalists had to battle past a tremendous effort from the Azzurrini and edged the contest 24-23 thanks to a 73rd-minute penalty from Josh Hodge.
Giacomo Da Re’s two first-half penalties kept Italy in touch at the midway point with England registering a try from Alex Coles to bring a 7-6 lead into the second act.
Winger Cristian Lai got Italy off to a flyer for the second half as he won the race to a clever Lorenzo Citton chip in behind England. Italy ahead, England rocked and they were in danger of rolling over as Davide Ruggeri punctured their defence and slipped Ange Capuozzo away to finish off a scintillating break and put a shock on the cards with the scoreline reading 16-7.
England needed a serious response, and they issued it in the form of concerted pressure. Nicolai Stoian picked up a yellow card as the crew turned and the comeback began with Tom Willis barging over off the back of a maul.
Hodge converted, making it a two-point game, but there was more to come from Italy and they hit back one last time with a try from Paolo Garbisi. But while he converted the score, Italy would be punished for early missed efforts as the nine-point lead proved insufficient.
Richard Capstick forced the next crucial score in the left corner for England and at the business end of the match, England held firm and took the lead through Hodge’s boot with seven minutes remaining.
They had shunned an earlier penalty in the hunt for a bonus point, but in the end England had to be content with three tries and a four-point haul that tucks them in behind Australia (10 points) and Ireland (five points) in Pool C.
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
Head-to-head result decides Pool so Australia are through
Best Runner-up will need at least 10 match points + a better overall score difference if tied. NZ/SA both have 10 points in Pool C + score differences more than +60 ahead of Ireland’s [63 and 64 respectively]
So Ireland need NZ/SA to win convincingly and then to out score Italy by enough to make up the 60+ point gap less the NZ/SA points difference. So – if New Zealand beat South Africa by 20 clear points [+ deny them a try scoring bonus point], Ireland would need to beat Italy by 44 points
France v Argentina is also relevant. A French victory means that the best Runner-Up cannot come from Pool A. Both could finish on 11 points though if they get 1 and 5 points respectively from their match. In which case they would both qualify for the knock-out stages if either NZ or SA fail to get a losing point. If Argentina deny France any match points then France will finish with 10 match points and will have lost the game by at least a score difference of 8 so have on overall total of no better than 27. Ireland would have to beat Italy by 40 pointsto have that outcome covered….
@Solon Harrison: Fair play to you
@Solon Harrison:
Would you be willing to do my Taxes :::PLEASE :) :) :) :)
Does anyone know if Ireland can still go further in this competition if they beat Italy ? Are there quarter finals or only semis?
@Jack Hackett: Are chances are slim after yesterday’s result. My understanding of it is that the winners of the three pools, plus the best runner up, all make it through to the next stage-which is the cup semi-final.
Ireland (5pts) are currently 5 match points behind Australia (10pts), plus a hefty score difference (64pts). We would need England to hammer Australia and Ireland to hammer Italy if we were going to top the group at this stage.
Both Argentina (6pts) and New Zealand (10pts) are in better positions to also get the best runner-up spot as things stand too.
@Jack Hackett: Unless it’s changed this year.. There’s usually also playoff games to determine each teams ranking from 5 to 12 with 12th place being relegated. I presume if Ireland finish 2nd in group but don’t reach the semis we’ll be in the 5th/ 6th place playoff. Open to correction though.
@Captain NerbNerb: Hasnt changed. All 12 teams play 5 games and the ranking games determine the pools for next years competition.