Under-20 Six Nations: Watch every match live on the BBC as England and Ireland compete for the title
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'They thought it was done' - Ireland deny England with late try
Under-20 Six Nations final round |
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Date: Friday, 15 March |
Matches: 19:00 - Ireland v Scotland; 19:30 - Wales v Italy; 20:00 - France v England |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app. |
The Under-20 Six Nations title battle is going down to the final round of fixtures on Friday.
Ireland rescued a thrilling draw with the clock in the red to deny England the title in the penultimate round, meaning the two teams are still vying for the crown.
Both sides have won three and drawn one of their matches, although England have claimed one more bonus point.
England, therefore, are in control of their own destiny and a bonus-point win over France would deliver the title.
Victory without a bonus point for England may not be enough and could open the door for Ireland, who would need to take the full five points on offer against Scotland and overturn the leaders' superior points difference, with 17 points between them in that column as it stands.
"We have talked about some of the permutations with some of the players that need to know," England head coach Mark Mapletoft said. "Most of the team don't need to know as they are driven around the field by the leaders.
"France have really got their act together in the last four or five years with their age-grade sides and they are super competitive.
"The focus is about enjoying the opportunity and experience."
France can also claim the title but they would need to claim the bonus point and beat England by at least 10 points, and hope Ireland finish empty-handed against the Scots.
"We can only control what we can control," England flanker Henry Pollock said.
"We are hopefully going to go out to France and get a bonus-point win, if Ireland win in Cork against Scotland then they have done their part and it is up to us."
Italy, meanwhile, have been the surprise package and thumped Scotland in their last game following on from beating France and a narrow one-point defeat by Ireland.
Scotland are rooted to the foot of the table after four disappointing defeats and to avoid the Wooden Spoon they will have to win in Ireland and hope Wales fail to claim a losing bonus against Italy, while Wales need two points from the game with the Azzurri to avoid finishing last.
You can watch live coverage of every match on the BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app.
Under-20 Six Nations fixtures
All games are live on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and mobile app.
Friday, 15 March
19:00 - Ireland v Scotland
19:30 - Wales v Italy
20:00 - France v England
Under-20 Six Nations results
Friday, 2 February
Saturday, 3 February
Friday, 9 February
Friday, 23 February
Thursday, 7 March
Friday, 8 March
Italy 47-14 Scotland
Top performers
Finn Carnduff - England
The robust England captain has led from the front and has played in all but four minutes of the championship.
The 20-year-old has featured at both lock and blind-side flanker and with three tries has proven leadership on the pitch.
Having started every game in last season's Under-20 Six Nations, Carnduff has plenty of experience heading to Pau as his team go in search of a first title since 2021.
Hugh Gavin - Ireland
Another returning player from last season, the Connacht centre has shifted from the wing to his favoured position of inside centre.
The 20-year-old has made 326.5 metres from 40 carries and scored two tries, but has also impressed with his passing game, helping to set up Ireland's winning try against Italy.
Gavin scored two tries in Ireland's Grand Slam decider against England last campaign and will be looking to have a similar impact against Scotland.
Hugo Reus - France
Reus is yet to feature in the Under-20 Six Nations this season, but was France's starting fly-half when they won the Under-20 World Championship last summer.
The fly-half has played regularly for Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle as the understudy to Antoine Hastoy - preventing his involvement with the Under-20 side.
Having played 15 times this season for the defending Champions Cup winners, England will not be thankful first appearance in the campaign comes in the final game.
Marco Scalabrin - Italy
The winger is the top try-scorer in the competition with four tries and also tops the charts for line-breaks.
The Benetton wing has made 10 clean breaks and showed all his attacking quality against Ireland with two brilliant solo-tries.
Italy are not short on young backs and Scalabrin will be looking to follow in the footsteps of 21-year-old Tommaso Menoncello in making the step up to senior level quickly.
Freddy Douglas - Scotland
In a struggling Scotland side, flanker Freddy Douglas has stood out on both sides of the ball. The 18-year-old has scored three tries and tops the charts for turnovers with 10 steals.
The open-side flanker plays his club rugby at Edinburgh and will be eligible next season, he will look to test himself against the back row of title-chasing Ireland on Friday.
Wales - Harri Ackerman
The Wales captain suffered a nasty broken leg against France to end his tournament in round four, but was a standout performer for Wales.
The Dragons centre played in the United Rugby Championship against Ulster before his injury after impressing in the opening three rounds.