England beat Ireland to reach World U20 Championship final

England will face either France or New Zealand in the final on 19 July

England (22) 31

Tries: Wright, Allan, Kerr Cons: Kerr 2 Pens: Kerr 4

Ireland (20) 20

Tries: Coffey, Ward Cons: J Murphy 2 Pens: J Murphy 2

England defeated Ireland in a thrilling World Rugby Under-20 Championship semi-final in Cape Town.

Oliver Coffey and Bryn Ward scored first-half tries for Ireland but Craig Wright, Ollie Allan and Sean Kerr hit back for England, who led 22-20 at the break.

The scores dried up after the restart but nine points from the boot of centre Kerr helped England hold off the Irish challenge.

England are bidding for their first title since 2016 and will play the winner of New Zealand and France in the final in Cape Town on 19 July.

Ireland, who missed out on reaching back-to-back deciders, will face the loser of the second semi-final in the battle for third.

Ireland and England played out a thrilling 32-32 draw in the Under-20 Six Nations earlier in the year and many anticipated another tight encounter in South Africa.

It was the Irish who made a lightning start as Coffey crossed inside two minutes. Off the back of a line-out, centre Hugh Gavin powered through a number of English tackles and his offload allowed Coffey to score. Murphy added the conversion.

Willie Faloon's side almost grabbed a second try but Alan Spicer dropped the ball with the line gaping, while Allan also let an opportunity slip away at the other end with the Irish line in sight.

England were dominating the scrums but after Kerr sent the resulting penalty wide, they eventually broke down the Irish defence on 25 minutes.

Slick handling allowed Wright space on the right wing and the hooker was able to cross unchallenged. Kerr converted from out wide.

Ireland edged in front again when Murphy landed a penalty, but England immediately hit back with a well-worked team try.

Ioan Jones broke through and he put a try on a plate for Allan to cross under the posts. Kerr added the simple conversion.

But in a thrilling end to the opening 40 minutes, Ireland came again and were rewarded for their pressure when flanker Ward spotted a gap and burrowed over under the posts. Murphy added the extras.

Both Kerr and Murphy exchanged penalties, but it was the English centre who would have the final say when he crossed in the corner in the last play of the half.

Irish blanked in tight second half

The second-half was another tight affair. It looked like the Irish would get in out wide but Jones intercepted at the crucial moment.

Kerr grabbed the first points after the restart with a well-taken penalty, while Murphy pushed an effort of his own wide.

The end-to-end scoring would soon dry up as both sets of players became edgy in the Cape Town heat. Ireland pushed for some much-needed territory but handling errors at crucial moments, both in attack and defence, handed England the impetus.

Kerr sent a penalty against the posts, but made no mistake with another effort that put eight points between the sides after another scrum penalty.

He would have the final say as he kicked his fourth penalty with the final act to spark wild celebrations, having held Ireland scoreless in the second half.

England: Ioan Jones; Ben Redshaw; Ben Waghorn, Sean Kerr; Alex Wills; Ben Coen, Ollie Allan; Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Craig Wright, Afolabi Fasogbon; Joe Bailey, Junior Kpoku; Finn Carnduff (capt), Henry Pollock, Nathan Michelow.

Replacements: James Isaacs, Cameron Miell, James Halliwell, Olamide Sodeke, Kane James, Lucas Friday, Josh Bellamy, Toby Cousins.

Ireland: Ben O’Connor; Finn Treacy; Wilhelm de Klerk, Hugh Gavin; Hugo McLaughlin; Jack Murphy, Oliver Coffey; Ben Howard, Danny Sheahan, Jacob Boyd; Alan Spicer, James McKillop; Sean Edogbo, Bryn Ward, Brian Gleeson (capt).

Replacements: Stephen Smyth, Emmet Calvey, Patreece Bell, Billy Corrigan, Luke Murphy, Tadhg Brophy, Sean Naughton, Sam Berman.