Last Friday night under the full moon at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town, Finn Carnduff led his England Under 20’s men to a World Championship victory, defeating France 21-13.
Earlier this year, England were also crowned Six Nations champions, continuing a majorly successful season for the pathway squad. Helping the squad to victory were several players from various university institutions who spent their playing in the BUCS Super Rugby league this season.
L-R Ben Coen, Kane James and Joe Bailey Image: World Rugby
England started their tournament with a decisive victory against Argentina, where, despite a slow start to the first half, a hat-trick on debut from winger Jack Bracken saw them comfortably win their opening game.
For the next game against Fiji, Mapletoft made 12 changes to the starting XV, but it did not slow the side's momentum down at all, with a dismantling of the flying Fijians in a 48-11 win.
Next up were the hosts, South Africa. Despite only needing one point to secure a spot out of the group, Carnduff’s men set their sights on victory. With the scores level when the clock hit 80, they still went out for the win, eventually scoring a try in the 86th minute and knocking out South Africa in their own backyard. This was a clear statement of winning intent from the side.
Entering the knock-out rounds, it was a semi-final against Six Nations rivals Ireland, who England drew against earlier this year at the Rec. Despite horrific weather conditions, England went out with their dominant forward pack and controlled the game well, earning penalties from scrums, which Sean Kerr expertly slotted to earn a 31-20 victory and book them a spot in the final.
Ollie Allan Image: World Rugby
Heading into the final, they were set to face one of the tournament favourites, France, who had won the championship three consecutive times and had brought a typical French flair all competition long.
Despite this, England put in yet another dominant display, keeping the French to just one try in the 80th minute and winning the title for the first time since 2016.
The England Under 20s pathway has produced many international stars, and we are so pleased to see excellent representation of players across the university game in this magnificent squad.
L-R Harvey Cuckson, Arthur Green, Olamide Sodeke, Finn Carnduff Image: World Rugby
A special mention must go to Durham’s Arthur Green, who represented the England Student’s side against France Universities at Butts Park Arena back in May. Green came off the bench for the Under 20’s in the final and scored a crucial try, helping the side to the win.
We are immensely proud of the whole Under 20’s squad and all of the players from University institutions and can not wait to see what the future holds in store for them as they progress through the pathways.
Full list of university players involved in the England Under 20’s squad:
Joe Bailey, University of Exeter
Finn Carnduff, Loughborough University
Arthur Green, Durham University
James Issacs, Loughborough University
Kane James, University of Exeter
Billy Sela, University of Bath
Ollie Allan, Loughborough University
Ben Coen, University of Exeter
Harvey Cuckson, University of Bath
Louie Gulley, University of Exeter
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