Two Hertfordshire players turned potential defeat into a comfortable victory for England today against Wales. First Hannah Gallagher came off the bench for England U20s to score the try that put her team ahead - and then Georgia Peedle completed the win with the try that finally saw off Welsh resistance
England had been trailing to Wales for most of this afternoon's international, played at Hartpury College in Gloucester. With 29 minutes left Wales lead 19-13 when Hannah and Georgia came on, along with Surrey's Alex Matthews. Soon after Matthews had reduced the deficit, and then on 62 minutes Hannah, supported by Essex's Emily Scott, completed a superb move, touching down under the posts. Scott converted and England were ahead 25-19.
Wales were not finished - until Georgia seized her chance, after some good work by England’s backs, catching a great line on her first touch of the ball and scoring. With Scott again successful with the boot, England sealed an impressive 32-19 victory.
England Women U20s Head Coach Amanda Bennett said: “This was again a very different match to the games we have played against France and Scotland this season. We put ourselves in trouble in the first half with a high missed tackle count and two sin-binnings. We fell foul of the referee and were playing with 13 players at one point which is when Wales scored their second try. We certainly made life hard for ourselves against a very good Wales team.
“In the break we had a good team talk stressing the need to do the basics well and when we started doing that we were much more disciplined. Our tackling was much better as was our defence and that meant we could put pressure on Wales. From about 50 minutes onwards there was a sense that this game was there for us to take. We used our entire bench and their experience made a real difference. With Gallagher and Matthews coming on they upped the pace and physicality and we scored two quick tries.”
Bennett added: “It’s great that we have won three out of three games. Along the way we have also learned a lot and we are now confident and mentally strong. We know when we make errors that we can bounce back. The U20s programme this season is certainly one of the best there has ever been and we will have some very tough selection decisions to make ahead of the Nations Cup. I know that I will be able to pick 26 players for that squad and everyone of them will make an impact during our campaign.”
England U20s
15 Rachel Roberts (Gloucester, South West), 14 Katie Mason (Bristol, Somerset, South West), 13 Amy Wilson-Hardy (Bristol, Sussex, South West), 12Louise Dennis (Worcester, North Midlands, Midlands), 11 Rebecca Hughes (Bristol, Somerset, South West), 10 Emily Scott (Thurrock, Essex, London & South East), 9 Charlotte Keane (Worcester, South West), 1 Emily Kingston (Gloucester, Gloucestershire, South West),
2 Geri Thomas (Old Albanian Saints, Hertfordshire, London & SE), 3Mica Evans(Exeter Saracens, Devon, South West), 4 Fiona Fletcher (Lichfield, Staffordshire, Midlands), 5 Abbie Scott (Keswick, Cumbria,North), 6 PoppyCleall (Bristol, Hampshire,South West), 7 Megan Oaten (Bristol, Gloucestershire, South West), 8Harriet Mills (C) (Lichfield, Staffordshire, Midlands). Replacements: 16 Charlie Notman (Newquay Hornets (Queen Bees), Cornwall, South West), 17Daniker Willmore (Bristol, South West), 18 Alexandra Matthews (London Irish, Surrey, London & South East),
19 Hannah Gallagher (Saracens, Hertfordshire, London & South East), 20 N/A, 21 Leanne Riley (Worcester, North Midlands, Midlands),
22 Georgia Peedle (Worcester, Hertfordshire, London & South East)
Tries: Cleall (2), Matthews,
Gallagher, Peedle
Conversions: E. Scott (2)
Penalties: E. Scott
Substitutions: Matthews for Mills ,
Gallagher for Oaten (both 57),
Peedle for Roberts (59), Willmore for Evans (64), Riley for Dennis (68), Notman for Thomas (69)
