Wales Draw with England in U19's!!!!

[carlnz]

UNDER 19 INTERNATIONAL

ENGLAND 16 WALES 16

by Chris Wilson

England U-19 and Wales U-19 also fought out a superb 16-16 draw in front of a huge crowd at Chosen Hill, Gloucester on Sunday. With the final play of the game, England second row Martin Ryan was held up over the Welsh line by some desperate defenders unable to ground the ball for what would have been the match-winning score.

A defeat would have been harsh on the Welsh who defended superbly and attacked with pace and width but England will be rueing their indiscipline, which lost them several good scoring opportunities and their lack of composure when they had the try-line in sight.

The opening stages of the match were conducted to the tune of the referee’s whistle as both sides sought to assert their physical superiority and it was no surprise that the early scoring chances came from penalties. Gareth Pugh struck a post with his first shot at goal after three minutes following an English high tackle before further infringements allowed the Welsh to advance up the field and pressure the England line.

This pressure resulted in a try from close range for Marcus David, which went unconverted.

With play sweeping from end to end it took a barnstorming angled run from Rick Jones to level the scores after 22 minutes, Craig Wilson striking the woodwork with his attempted conversion.

After a string of penalties, both sides were lectured by the referee and Pugh drifted a kick at goal wide. From the 20-metre drop out, Wilson hammered the ball down field and found touch in the Welsh 10-metre line. Dale Bloomfield picked up from the back of the scrum and raced through a huge gap to the line. Wilson again missed the conversion but the score invigorated England and they played their best football of the game, but lacked a killer punch that would put points on the board.

Wales made them pay just before the interval as Jason Kenneally scored in the corner after England were penalised for dissent.

Four minutes into the second period, England took the lead again. Wilson’s kick and chase forced a goal-line drop out and from the extra set of six, Martin Ryan blasted over by the posts. Wilson converted to give England a 14-8 lead.

The Welsh thought they had tied the scores when James Davies weaved his way to the posts but lost the ball in trying to score. However, England’s reprieve didn’t last long as Barrie Phillips ran from the base of a scrum through a big gap to score. Neil Gadd converted and added a simple penalty to give the Welsh a 16-14 lead.

England laid siege to the Welsh line for almost the entire last ten minutes but a combination of poor discipline and wrong options ensured that their only reward was a Wilson penalty with four minutes to go.

They pressed from the restart but were unable to set up for a clinching drop goal and Wales held on for the draw they deserved.


England U-19: Lee Forsyth, Scott Childs, Ian Wilkinson, Sam Gee, Dane English, Scott Low, Craig Wilson, Luke Sutton, James Whaley, Sam Thompson (Capt), Martin Ryan, Sam Wynn, Dale Bloomfield. Subs: Paul Day, Rick Jones, Matt Barber, Adam Boughton.

Tries: Rick Jones (22min), Dale Bloomfield (29), Martin Ryan (43).
Goals: Craig Wilson 2 from 4.

Wales U-19: Neil Gadd, Adam Dawe, Lee Williams, Daniel Phillips, Jason Kenneally, Gareth Pugh, Scott O’Brien, Gareth Moore (Capt.), Marcus David, Anthony Rodgers, Gareth Owen, Anthony Watts, Barrie Phillips. Subs: Dan Falvey, Billy Lavis, James Davies, Dan Blethyew.

Tries: Marcus David (9 min), Jason Kenneally (37), Barrie Phillips (58).
Goals: Neil Gadd 2 from 2, Gareth Pugh 0 from 3

Referee: Greg Banks (London)

Half Time: 8-8

Outstanding effort from Wales...I understand all the English players are from Superleague Clubs! What does this tell us about the direction Wales is heading in?

also

ENGLAND LIONHEARTS 16 WALES STUDENTS 16

 

[bender]

excellent result for the welsh.

At junior level (under 16 - under 19), it seems that a World cup could potentially produce the following competive sides for a world cup:
Australia, New Zealand, France, Wales, PNG (and with the help of some Aus and NZ based players), Samoa, and Tonga. It wouldnt be beyond the realms of possibilities for Ireland, Scotland and Russia to join this list. I alluded to this on another thread but the more I think about it, the more I think that a fully blown world cup at this level would be as good or better for the sport than a World Cup at senior level, as the Australians are not yet as untouchable.

 

[Sun_Down]

Whoa! Great result for Wales!

 

[DIEHARD]

The other nations seem to be going well at a junior level. I wonder if we will see this success feed through to the elite level.

Also England + Wales = Great Britain.

 

[nadera78]

I think you guys need to know that this was a Student U-19 fixture. There no players with Superleague connections involved in this game whatsoever. A game at that level would result in a huge loss for the Welsh, they just would not be able to compete with the English. Unfortunately.

And it was part of a day of Rugby League including a game for the full Welsh Students team who are preparing for the Student World Cup. They played against the England Lionhearts, a rep team for players drawn from the Rugby League Conference, an RL comp for teams outside of the heartlands of the game, kind of like the Aussie Emerging States side.

 

[carlnz]

I think you guys need to know that this was a Student U-19 fixture. There no players with Superleague connections involved in this game whatsoever. A game at that level would result in a huge loss for the Welsh, they just would not be able to compete with the English. Unfortunately.

And it was part of a day of Rugby League including a game for the full Welsh Students team who are preparing for the Student World Cup. They played against the England Lionhearts, a rep team for players drawn from the Rugby League Conference, an RL comp for teams outside of the heartlands of the game, kind of like the Aussie Emerging States side.

Well on the English website it said English players from Super League Clubs..also it they wouldnt get killed, Wales did alright in the U16 level.

Welsh Rugby League Clubs arent strong anyway, so a win over eny english team is great for them. Wait till the get their National League side next year then we will see how Wales go.


Eight of the Welsh Student side play for the Port Talbot-based club while they also provide an impressive 14 players in the 18-man Wales under 19 squad who will have a tough task as they face up against the best of the young players from the English Super League clubs (kick-off 1pm).

http://www.rfl.uk.com/Templates/RFLDefault.asp?modeID=News&RFLMode=ShowNews&Pkey=720&CompName=

 

[nadera78]

I'm fairly certain that none of those guys are with Super League clubs. It may well be that they are trying to inflate the opposition to make the Welsh look better.

Earlier in the year there was a game advertised between Wales and England at U-16 level (which IIRC England won quite convincingly). It later turned out to be the England U-15 team, as it was felt the U-16's were way too strong. It was just advertised as being England U-16 so that the Welsh didn't look too bad.

 

[carlnz]

what 36-6? A years difference wouldnt do much anyway...

Hopefuly out of that game some of the Welsh boys got contracts because whats the bet that all the English boys have contracts..like i said give it 5 years and I think Wales will compete against the full English team..

 

[nadera78]

Just had it confrimed on totalrl.com that the England team was selected from colleges playing RL under the Student Rugby League organisation.

And at the under-15/16 age groups a year does make a big difference, purely in the size and strength of most kids at that age. So a 36-6 win for the England U-15's suggests a much bigger margin (probably 50points plus) if the U-16's had taken the field.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

The Great Britain Student Colts side that came to Australia 2 years ago included many players who were part of the super league set up. Most were in the junior academy teams while some were int he academy teams of national league clubs. Some were even playing first grade in the national leagues. Of these most were English Student reps, some Ireland and some Scotland (grandparent rule players i expect). They included Richie Barnett Jnr and Alex Rowe who have since played Super League first grade. Based on that side two years ago I think it's reasonable to say at least some of the players that played against Wales would be part of the super league structure. However with the World Cup coming up England would be somewhat diluted by a lot of players choosing to play for Ireland and Scotland justr like they were in the 2000 RLWC. Still a good result for Wales aho have been surprisingly strong in student footy for some years now. It'll be interesting to see how they do in the WC after drawing Australia, NZ and Scotland in their pool.