By baggie
February 4 2007

NEC Harlequins were well represented last night in the England Under-20 team which beat Scotland 31-5 at the Recreation Ground, Bath with Danny Care, Seb Jewell & Adam Thompstone all in the starting line-up.

It was a proud moment for all 3 boys with Seb & Adam having their first taste of international rugby and Danny having his first experience of captaining his country, in fact his first experience of captaincy at any level of the game.

After the heavy rain the country suffered in the early part of January which turned many rugby pitches into quagmires it was pleasing to find that following a week of dry weather the Rec provided a perfect playing surface and an excellent crowd of over 5,000 turned up to support England on a cold, calm and clear evening.

In the run-up to the game the England selectors had been deprived through injury and illness of the services of 4 backs with significant Guinness Premiership, European and England age-group rugby experience, our own Jordan Turner-Hall with his on-going shoulder problem and the London Wasps trio of David Doherty, Danny Cipriani & Dominic Waldouck. However their misfortune gave Seb the opportunity to start at fly-half with Adam at outside centre and Danny at scrum-half.

England’s game plan of running the ball at every opportunity was evident in the first minute when a penalty awarded to England near the half-way line saw Danny immediately “tap and go” without any thought to kicking for position or attempting the kick at goal. England’s early dominance was rewarded with a try in the 3rd minute when No.8 David Tait (Sale Sharks) picked up from the base of a scrum on half-way gave a “pop pass” to Danny who broke through the Scotland defence to the 22 and gave the return pass on the inside to Tait who scored under the posts to give an easy conversion opportunity for full-back Frankie Neale (Saracens) who had the kicking duties for the evening. Anyone who had been at the Stoop for the England Under-19 game against Scotland a year ago will have seen a very similar try created by the same 2 players which, on that occasion, saw Danny score in front of the South Stand – obviously Scotland didn’t watch the video !

After such a perfect start England settled down and dominated the remainder of the first half in terms of territory and possession but without being able to put any more points on the board. Scotland struggled to get out of their own half as England’s “blitz defence” kept them under pressure although England’s desire to play a fast tempo game resulted in unforced errors and incorrect decision making on occasions. Seb & Adam put in very solid performances in both attack and defence and Seb’s kicking from hand was excellent when the situation demanded it.

Just before the interval Danny picked up a knock when he ended up at the bottom of a ruck after trying to clear up some untidy ball. When he emerged from the pile he was clearly struggling and the half-time whistle gave him the chance for further treatment in the dressing room with England’s 7-0 lead not giving a true reflection of their dominance of the game. 

When the teams came out for the 2nd half Danny was still struggling to shake off the injury and was replaced by Tom Parker (London Irish) who scored the second England try with only his second touch of the ball, a close range effort, again following a pick-up from the base of a ruck by David Tait. Neale added the conversion to make it 14-0. 

England continued to dominate the game and whilst Seb & Adam saw plenty of the ball as the team continued to move it wide whenever possible it was clear that the forwards had decided it was time for them to take over as Scotland tired after putting in an heroic defensive effort. In the last 25 minutes of the game England scored 3 tries from driving mauls to emphasise their superiority up-front. Scotland did pick up a consolation try during this period but the final score of 31-5 was a fair reflection of England’s dominance on the night. 

All 3 Quins can be proud of their contribution to an impressive England victory and after the game they were presented with their caps by Brian Williams, Junior Vice-President of the RFU who will take over as RFU President in 2 years time. 

This was an excellent start to England’s Six Nations campaign which continues next Friday against Italy, once again at the Recreation Ground, Bath although this time the game will be shown live on Sky TV. 

All 3 lads will hope to be involved next week although team selection will no doubt be influenced by the injury situation. The England physio diagnosed Danny’s injury as a bruised hip which should clear up in time for him to be considered for selection along with Seb & Adam who, I think, came through unscathed. 

A night to remember for all concerned and a great night for the club when looked at in conjunction with the contributions made by Mike Brown, Dave Strettle & Nick Easter for the England Saxons side.

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England Under-20s: F Neale (Saracens, rep J Tirrell, Saracens 70); O Dodge (Leicester Tigers), A Thompstone (NEC Harlequins, rep C Gower London Irish 77), A Powell (Saracens), S Kuadey (Sale Sharks); S Jewell (NEC Harlequins), D Care (capt, NEC Harlequins, rep T Parker, London Irish 48); D Cole (Leicester Tigers, rep C Beech, Northampton Saints 68), M Mullan (Worcester Warriors, rep R McMillan, Gloucester Rugby 75), J Forster (Gloucester Rugby), D Attwood (Bristol Rugby), P Hoy (Northampton Saints), A Shaw (Leicester Tigers, rep M Cox Worcester Warriors 63), C Pennycook (Bristol Rugby), D Tait (Sale Sharks, rep H Ellis London Wasps 68).

Scorers: Tries – Tait (2), Parker, Cox, Ellis; Cons – Neale (3).

Scotland Under-20s: C Goudie (Stewart’s-Melville FP); D McCall (Edinburgh Rugby & Stewart’s-Melville FP, rep C Anderson Melrose 77), R Hutton (Hawick, ), G Hogg (Border Reivers & Hawick), A Easson (Edinburgh Rugby & Stewart’s-Melville FP), A Grove (Worcester Warriors); C Ferguson (capt, Edinburgh Rugby & Dundee HSFP), J Hunter (Glasgow Warriors & Hillhead/Jordanhill, rep M Bringhurst, Edinburgh Rugby & Watsonians 60); A Dymock (Edinburgh Rugby & Dundee HSFP), P MacArthur (Ayr, rep F Wilford Sheffield Hallam University & Rotherham Titans 58), K Traynor (Edinburgh Rugby & Boroughmuir, rep B Pow, Hawick 44-49), W Lipp (Watsonians), S Turnbull (Edinburgh Rugby & Heriot’s, rep G McGilchrist, Tynedale 62), D Lambert (Heriot’s, rep B Pow, Hawick 44-49), R Grant (Border Reivers & Gala, rep D Levison, Dundee HSFP 34), R Vernon (Border Reivers & Stewart’s-Melville FP).

Sin-binned: Dymock 39-49

Scorers: Try - Bringhurst

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU)

Att: 5,008

England Under-20s fixtures
Friday February 2 England U-20s 31 Scotland U-20s 5 Bath
Friday February 9 v Italy U-21s Bath, 8pm (live on SkySports)
Friday February 23 v Ireland U-20s Athlone, 7.30pm
Friday March 9 v France U-21s Northampton, 7.30pm (live on SkySports)
Friday March 16 v Wales U-20s Newport, 7.40pm