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4 England vs France World Rugby U20 Championship final talking points
By Liam Heagney
We’re set for a fascinating World Rugby U20 Championship final in Cape Town between England and France on Friday evening. New Zealand attempted to muscle in on the title proceedings, bagging the No1 semi-final ranking following their 80th-minute penalty kick pool win over French in Stellenbosch on July 4.
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However, the defending champions spectacularly settled that particular score just 10 days later and last Sunday’s 55-31 demolition of the Baby Blacks now has Sebastien Calvet’s team tipped as favourites to complete their four-in-a-row Championship title sequence.
Unbeaten England will have plenty to say about that at the iconic Cape Town Stadium, though. Their progress throughout 2024 has been exemplary under Mark Mapletoft and having clinched the Six Nations title with a barnstorming second-half performance away to France in Pau 18 weeks ago, they won’t fear the opposition as they look to win their first U20 Championship since 2016.
A high-scoring shootout is the expectation, although the forecasted rain could temper attacking ambition. Here are the RugbyPass talking points about an appetising all-northern hemisphere final in the heart of the southern hemisphere:
Slow starting England
A potentially crucial aspect should be the start England make, as they have been slow out of the blocks every time in South Africa, but the truth is their fans shouldn’t fret if they concede early yet again. They trailed Argentina by 0-14, the Junior Boks 0-7, and also gave up a first-minute try to Ireland last Sunday. Even in their runaway win over Fiji, they fell behind to a third-minute penalty even though the Islanders had lost a player to a first-minute yellow card.
The French, meanwhile, love an early try. They had two in seven minutes the last day against New Zealand, while their opening tries in previous outings versus Wales, the Kiwis and Spain came after seven, four and two minutes respectively.
That’s a potent trend but what will give England every confidence if things don’t initially go to plan once more is they have developed a tremendous habit of finding a way, not just at this Championship but also the defiant manner in which they clung on when they last played France.
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They were 19-28 down just minutes into the second half after conceding a fourth try, but they ‘won’ the next 23 minutes of play 26-3.
In other words, unlike last year when they were blown away in the second half of their 31-52 semi-final loss to the French, they have learned an invaluable lesson since then about coping with adversity. Count them in when the going gets tough.
The weight of experience
If adult first-team experience is a factor, England might as well not turn up for this age-grade final. Glancing through their starting XV, we estimate seven English players sharing 34 Premiership/Top 14/European appearances in 2023/24 – and most of that exposure was off the bench.
In contrast, nine of France’s XV have played Top 14/Pro D2 in 23/24, mostly as starters. Most prolific have been Grenoble hooker Barnabe Massa and Brive full-back Mathis Ferte, who respectively had 30 and 29 appearances, but the French also have Top 14 rookie stars in league semi-finalist Hugo Reus of La Rochelle and Toulouse title winner Mathis Castro-Ferreira.
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Blooding the kids early is very much the French way and it impacts their mindset, sub back-rower Brent Liufau of Pau telling RugbyPass: “The league is a good level and coming here (to the U20s), there is no pressure because we have that experience.”
England boss Mapletoft has refused to read significance into this difference in exposure, though. “There are pros and cons to it,” he reckoned. “Every country has got a different game model in terms of how they do things, how they are structured, the resources they have available. Often we get sidetracked by what other people are doing rather than actually focus on what you do.”
It’s each to their own essentially, but we’ll know late on Friday whose perspective carries more weight right now.
Scrum idols
One aspect of English play that will please England Test boss Steve Borthwick is how expertly the U20s scrum coached by Nathan Catt has performed in Cape Town. They produced a masterclass last Sunday in pulverising Ireland, securing a 6-0 penalty count at the scrum that could easily have been more such was their dominance.
It won’t have escaped their attention that one area where France had some issues versus New Zealand was at the scrum and there were two penalties in quick succession awarded against them, evidence that will enthuse the English who hope to press home an advantage in this area.
“It’s clear and obvious we have had a huge strength in that area over the course of the season… probably the pinnacle was Sunday in terms of how we got after Ireland. Clearly, they are very good players,” enthused Mapletoft about his props, whose semi-final dominance was all the more impressive as they had lost tighthead Billy Sela to a round-three knock versus the Junior Boks.
“You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to work out that’s probably an area, a massive area of strength for us, and probably an area where the senior England team could do with a bit more strength in depth with some younger players pushing through to put a bit of pressure on.
“It’s great for our senior group that we have some really good prospects… If you are going forwards on a regular basis in the scrum you must have something about you.” That’s quite the compliment for Asher Opoku-Fordjour and co.
The joie factor
It was interesting how France skipper Reus suggested to RugbyPass in his pre-final interview that his squad love to play 20s because it is a very different style to what they have in the Top 14. “In the Top 14, the players are stronger, bigger, the impacts are more important but the play at U20 is quick. It needs to be quicker than in Top 14 so it’s different. It’s not the same rugby and we love this type of rugby… the more speed the better.”
That’s not to imply Reus and co are all joie at this level; there is plenty of structure to their play to help create the space that they have been exploiting with flair. In terms of attack at the Championship, France have had 49 linebreaks compared to England’s 37, while the French have also given up less linebreaks, 17 to 21.
Strengthening England’s hand in coping with this off-the-cuff entertainment heading into the final is playing Fiji in round two, according to skipper Finn Carnduff. “We have been pretty lucky to have faced Fiji already at this tournament. They are another team that can throw a spanner in the works and you have got to expect the unexpected, so we have had a taste of it.
“But this French team can hurt you off transition, loose ball, keeping the ball alive and keeping on top with the momentum they gain. We have to expect the unexpected but within our principles and stick to what we are good at.”
One aspect slightly in England’s favour is discipline. While overall the penalties conceded tally is much of a muchness, England conceding 47 in four games compared to France on 51, it is curious that despite how excellent their attack was in trouncing New Zealand last weekend, the French were hammered 18-9 on the penalty count and gave up two yellow cards to one red for the Kiwis.
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