England will face Ireland World Rugby U20 Championship final
Tuesday 21 June 2016 02:10, UK
England demolished South Africa 39-17 to set up a World Rugby U20 Championship final with Ireland.
The Junior Boks had no answer as England produced a ruthless and accurate first-half performance to score five tries and go into the break 31-3 up in Manchester.
England got off to the perfect start as they scored two tries in the first seven minutes with the first one coming in the opening minute.
From the kick-off, centre Johnny Williams broke up the middle before passing inside to scrum-half Max Green, who went over.
Minutes later England lock Huw Taylor used his reach to stretch over for their second before South Africa were reduced to 14 men after their skipper Jeremy Ward was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.
South Africa may have got on the board with a penalty from full-back Curwin Bosch but it was England who stamped their authority on the game.
With an extra man, England ramped up the pressure and soon had their third try as they created space out wide for Sam Aspland-Robinson to go over.
Williams added a fourth before they went down a man when flanker Will Evans was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle. However, even that did not stop them as Max Malins went over to end a brilliant half for England. Fly-half Harry Mallinder played an influential role, getting the ball away quickly, and was solid with the boot - ending the half with four out of five conversions.
South Africa woke up in the second half and scored two quick-fire tries to narrow the gap to 31-17. Flyer Edwill van der Merwe intercepted a cross-field kick to race 70 metres to score before Bosch went over after some good work midfield.
Mallinder added a penalty before England sealed the result after Max Wright went over in the 72nd minute. Jack Willis showed his power by running the ball up after stealing a lineout to put the Junior Boks on the back foot. Great hands saw them break down the flank through Malins before he offloaded to Max Wright who went over. Mallinder's conversion was a great effort but he pulled it wide after he has had to resort to a quick drop goal attempt after the ball fell over.
With time up on the clock, South Africa worked hard to have the last word but knocked on and England progressed to their fourth straight final.
Ireland 37-7 Argentina
It will be Ireland's first appearance in a World Rugby U20 Championship and they got there is style with a strong first-half performance.
Two tries from full-back Jacob Stockdale either side of a 70-metre intercept try from number eight and man of the match Max Deegan gave Ireland a 21-7 lead at half-time and the boot of fly-half Johnny Phillips kept the scoreboard ticking over after the break to ensure there was no way back for Argentina.
Ireland's pack were superb and dominated the set-piece which frustrated Argentina who could not build any momentum.
Things went from bad to worse for Argentina after regalement prop Santiago Pulella was red-carded for using his head and Ireland ended the game with one more try as Shane Daly went over with time up on the clock.
Watch England U20 v Ireland U20 live on Saturday on Sky Sports 3 HD from 6.45pm - or watch without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV.
