Saints quartet star as England Under-20s beat Scotland

Saints centres Ethan Grayson and Tom Litchfield scored as England Under-20s started their Six Nations Under-20s title defence with a 41-24 win against Scotland Under-20s.
Tom Litchfield grabbed a try for England Under-20sTom Litchfield grabbed a try for England Under-20s
Tom Litchfield grabbed a try for England Under-20s

And there were also strong performances from Saints lock Tom Lockett and full-back George Hendy, who came off the bench to set up a length-of-the-field score for Grayson.

It was a good night for those of a Northampton persuasion and for England as they overcame a difficult first half at the Dam Health Stadium in Edinburgh.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

England, last year's Grand Slam champions, had struggled early on against a physical Scotland side in front of a buoyant home crowd.

No.8 Ollie Leatherbarrow put the Scots into the lead before Henry Arundell’s moment of magic earned a score for England.

Leatherbarrow went over for Scotland's second score but England narrowed the gap to two points thanks to a try from captain Toby Knight.

Ollie Melville scored in the corner to extend the Scottish lead to seven points shortly after the restart, but Alan Dickens' England came back firing.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Arundell made another scintillating break to set up scrum-half Tom Carr-Smith, whose quick feet saw him finish in the corner and put England into the lead, with Jamie Benson having knocked over a penalty just before.

Ethan Grayson finished off some sensational work from George HendyEthan Grayson finished off some sensational work from George Hendy
Ethan Grayson finished off some sensational work from George Hendy

Scotland replacement back rower Olujare Oguntibeju was then sent to the sin-bin for repeated offences on their try-line.

That shifted the momentum completely in England’s favour, and Knight crossed for his second to bag the bonus point and hand England a comfortable lead.

The Saints youngsters then came to the fore as Hendy’s sensational break off the restart set up Grayson for England’s fifth score.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Litchfield went over for try number six in the last 10 minutes to secure the win and in just half an hour, England had scored four times to take the game completely away from Scotland.

The home side did have the last say, however, as Will Hobson was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle and Gregor Hiddleston scored Scotland's bonus-point try.