Justin clegg eng u20s 17

Six Nations Champions 2017

England U20s

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England Under-20s secured their first Grand Slam title since 2012 - and their fifth Championship in seven years - with a thrilling Round Five victory in Dublin while Scotland earned their first victory of the tournament and France beat Wales to beat them to the runners-up spot.

Here we take a look at how England secured a flawless record in the Championship while three teams clinched three wins apiece.

ROUND ONE Defending champions Wales kicked off the Under-20s Six Nations with their trip to Italy and looked to be showing their form of last season when they beat a stubborn Italian side 27-5 in Milan. In a display of power and patience, the Welsh crossed three times to beat a side that would go on to run France and Ireland close in the following rounds. reland began their campaign with a nailbiting, one-point victory over Scotland at Cumbernauld courtesy of a late try from Paul Boyle that was coolly converted by Johnny McPhillips for a 20-19 win. The Scots dominated the earl exchanges and took a commanding 13-5 lead into the break and 14 points from the boot of fly-half Josh Henderson looked to be helping them on their way to a winning start before McPhillips’ conversion won it for the Irish. World champions England got their campaign off to a flyer as they cruised to a nine-try victory over France at Sandy Park. Fly-half Max Malins was instrumental in their 59-17 win scoring 24 of his side’s points as six of the English backline crossed the whitewash in Exeter.

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ROUND TWO It was back to Italy to kick off Round Two and visitors Ireland secured their second successive one-point victory away from home showing their composure in the dying stages of Championship matches. Winger Jordan Larmour’s double proved decisive as the Irish got over the line 27-26 despite a late Italian fight back in Prato. England secured their second consecutive bonus-point victory in the Championship when they overcame Wales in a six-try thriller at Colwyn Bay. England talisman Zach Mercer scored a try seven minutes from time to quash any hope of a Welsh comeback and lead his team to a 37-21 victory.

France scrum-half Arthur Retière scored a late double to secure his side a bonus point as they downed a spirited Scottish side 36-8 in Grenoble. With sides only separated by a score at halftime, France showed their class in the closing stages by pulling away from the Scots to recover from their opening round defeat.

ROUND THREE England sent out a message to the rest of the sides in the Championship at the start of Round Three when they scored eight tries in a 46-0 victory over Italy at the Northern Echo Arena.

Full-back Tom Parton and flanker Josh Bayliss dotted down twice each as England underlined their Grand Slam intentions when they secured the bonus point just two minutes into the second half. Ireland too earned their third win of the tournament with a 27-22 victory over France thanks, largely, to a flying start to the game at Donnybrook. The French responded with two tries in the second period but the Irish did enough to put themselves in the mix for the title in the last two rounds.

Scotland and Wales signed off Round Three by playing out a 99-point thriller at Broadwood Stadium. The hosts scored six tries to Wales’ eight with Welshman Kieran Williams scoring his side’s third before half-time for a 27-12 lead in Cumbernauld.

Scotland secured their own try-scoring bonus point within the hour before a chaotic final quarter resulted in five tries, rounded off by Welsh replacement Morgan Morris.

ROUND FOUR After a tough loss to the Irish, France got back to winning ways with an 18-13 victory over Italy to secure their second win of the campaign. Six points from the boot of impressive fly-half Romain N’Tamack after the break were enough to stave off a brave Italian fight back in Cagliari. Ireland’s loss to Wales extinguished their hopes of a Grand Slam campaign with Kieran Williams’ fine double proving decisive in his side’s 41-27 victory.

Wales earned their third win of the campaign, having already beaten Italy and Scotland, and the timing of their scoring - just

as Ireland looked to be pegging them back - was pivotal.

As a result of Ireland’s loss, England could wrap up the Under-20s Six Nations title with a 33-5 win over Scotland at Franklin’s Gardens and they did just that with Zach Mercer, now captain, securing the bonus-point in the last ten minutes. Scotland provided much resistance during the game with a fine try from winger Darcy Graham just after half-time giving the Scots hope but tries from Mercer and Brophy-Clews in the dying minutes made sure of an English win. England matched their senior counterparts in wrapping up the title a week early and sought a victory over Ireland for their first Grand Slam in five years.

ROUND FIVE In England’s Grand Slam bid at Donnybrook, they came up against their toughest test of the Championship but managed to puncture the Irish defence twice the the first-half to lead 14-3 at the break thanks to tries from Jack Nay and Henry Walker.

Ireland replacement Gavin Coombes got his side back to within a score after the break as the men in green looked to spoil the English party on St Patrick’s Day. But England staved off a late Irish resurgence - with a turnover on their own line the final act of the game - to clinch the Grand Slam with a hard-fought 14-10 win. Elsewhere in the final round of the Championship, Scotland earned their first win of the Championship against Italy to condemn them to a winless campaign. Darcy Graham impressed for the Scots scoring their first and last of five tries in a 38-17 victory at Broadwood. In the Championship’s final game, Romain N’Tamack inspired France to a bonus-point victory over Wales to secure second spot behind champions England.

After going 13 points down early on, the French fly-half had a hand in the first before scoring and converting the second of two quick-fire tries before the break for an unlikely 14-13 lead.

France pulled away in the second period scoring four more tries to end the tournament on a high in Montauban with a 40-20 success.

England Under-20s stave off late Irish fightback to secure Grand Slam The English scored all their points in the first half

with early tries from Jack Nay and Henry Walker dotting down to give them a commanding 14-3 lead at the break.

But the Irish battled the Donnybrook elements to claw their way back into the game with a well worked scored from Gavin Coombes.

The hosts, however, fell just short as they went in search of a match-winning score in the final minutes as England claimed their first Grand Slam since 2011 England started the brighter side and turned down two early shots at goal on a blustery evening in Dublin.

Second row Nay got the game’s opening try, rumbling over on the back of a driving maul with Max Malins adding the extras from a tight angle.

The Irish responded immediately and mounted pressure on the England line for several minutes but their discipline cost them as they conceded penalties at the breakdown to let the champions elect off the hook.

Ireland fly-half Bill Johnston got his side on the scoreboard a minute before half-time with a well struck penalty to bring them back within four.

But England regained possession from the restart and probed at the Ireland line with captain Zach Mercer making a number of powerful carries. nst the Irish drift defence to cross the whitewash untouched making for the easiest of conversions for Malins who made it 14-3 at the break.

Coombes rumbling over to set up a grandstand finish.

But the English defence held strong and they managed to stave off further waves of Irish attack in the last ten minutes.

Ireland mounted one final attack in the dying minutes with replacement fly-half Connor Fitzgerald finding holes in the English line.

But it was the dogged defensive effort of England that prevented the Irish form spoiling the party in Dublin as they were held up over the line as the clock went red.

Profile

It’s a long way back – and up – since Justin Clegg’s tentative steps in rugby when first playing at the age of eight at Bromsgrove School. Now he stands tall at 6ft 8in, grateful to his parents Karen and Simon, in his own words, “for letting me choose my own path in sport, opening me up to others such as cricket, hockey and football and also for giving me the fantastic opportunity to study at Bromsgrove. My brother, Adam, who became a member of the Warwickshire Cricket Academy, spent hours in the garden with me, practising skills etc.”

Birmingham born and a second-year georgraphy student at Durham University, he’s a sizeable distance from Worcester Warriors, where he is an academy member. He made his club debut in a U18 match against Northampton Saints in 2013.

Alex Keay, Gareth Nesbit and Mauritz Botha at university have constantly challenged me to become a better player and helped me with mental aspects of rugby. The Worcester coaches have also been brilliant over the past four years.”

With game time in the new BUCS Super League for Durham, he showed Warriors head coach Carl Hogg that he deserved an opportunity and made his first-team debut off the bench in the 31-25 Anglo-Welsh Cup win over Bristol before playing for almost half an hour against Wasps in the same competition the following week.

Looking back, Justin helped Bromsgrove to beat Dulwich College in the NatWest Cup final in 2015.

He continued: “When growing up, I liked the way that locks such as Brodie Retallick not only dominated physically but also contributed in the loose. I admire Eben Etzebeth for his physicality and also Gareth Barry in his Aston Villa football days. I’m a Villa supporter.”

Away from the game, he loves visiting family in Vancouver, where his mother was born, enjoys Good Charlotte, an American pop punk band, together with the film Deadpool and White Collar, a TV show. What is his best non-rugby achievement? Answer: Getting into Durham University.

He said: “Shaun Ruwers and Tony Windo at Bromsgrove recognised my ability and not only encouraged my love of the game but developed my skills in the loose.

Ireland threatened to drag the hosts back within striking distance shortly after the break but were penalised at the crucial moments in the red zone.

And the hosts got their reward after knocking on the door for several minutes with replacement second row

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