Spirited England out for revenge

ENGLAND U20s have the opportunity to make amends for their dismal defeat to France at the Rec in February and book a place in a World Championships final tonight.

- BEN JAYCOCK

PREVIEW...

England u France

Today. Kick-off 6pm

England’s hopes of a Six Nations title were blown away by a French onslaught that saw the visitors come away with a six-try 42-7 victory.

A 36-24 defeat to eventual Grand Slam winners Ireland followed before a change in the coaching staff saw U18s pathway coach Mark Mapletoft return as U20s boss replacing Alan Dickens.

Mapletoft, who led the U20s group in three Junior World Cup’s from 2008-10, has overseen his side draw 34-34 against Ireland, blow Fiji away with a 53-7 rout and endure a nervy 22-22 stalemate against Australia in the pool stages that resulted in his side finishing as the tournaments best second place team.

A physical test against France’s beefy pack awaits in the last four but Mapletoft says the opportunity for vengeance will be at the forefront of his troops minds.

He said: “If you’d have offered anyone involved the opportunity to compete in a semi-final, irrespective of who we’re playing, they’d have bitten your hand off. We built on some things we did well in the Six Nations but we still have plenty to work on and our challenge now for the remaining two games is to nit the two together.