News

REPORT | Late conversion secures England win

Posted: 28th April 2023

A nerves of steel, clutch conversion from Bath's Sam Harris saw England U19 edge a real display of international age grade rugby against Italy U19 at Goldington Road.

Locked on the scoreboard after an end to end contest, Harris held his nerve to secure a 28-26 victory.

It was another fantastic spectacle between an English and Italian international side in Bedford - a fourth meeting between the two sides at Goldington Road in recent times - and a crowd support of 2,247 showed just how important an occasion this was.

You couldn't really tell which side was at home such was the mixed audience inside Goldington Road but it was a game played in the best spirits and again showed just hwo rugby can bring people together and share moments to last a lifetime.

The opening 40 minutes was almost a half of two halves in the sense both teams had their moments and headed back to the changing rooms deadlocked at 7-7.

Nicholas Gasperini opened the scoring for Italy after just five minutes after a dominant set piece, but England grew into the game and levelled it up through the nippy number nine, Ollie Allan.

A flashpoint on 46 minutes almost cost Italy as Leonardo Sodo Migliori saw red for an overzealous tackle of the man in the air.

That seemed to galvanise the Italians in attendance and they immediately responded with a try as Francesco Imberti sprinted home following an interception.

There were three players on display to have worn the blue of Bedford this season and two of those, Craig Wright and Toby Thame put England into a commanding position of 21-12.

Italy weren't going down without a fight and when Luca Belucci, you just knew it was going to be a dramatic finale to the contest.

And so it proved as Gasperini got a second to put Italy in-front with just three minutes to play.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man as Tobias Elliott got the legs pumping to level the scores with time well in the red. Huge credit to England for keeping the ball in hand for so long.

That set the stage for Harris to secure the win and he nailed the conversion with the help of the right post to continue England's winning run at Goldington Road.

*Matchday Photography by Hazel Hawkes Photography and Zack Levens - z-r-j.co.uk*

Teams

ENGLAND U19

15. Ben Redshaw (Newcastle), 14. Alex Wills (Sale), 13. Toby Thame (Northampton), 12. Sean Kerr (Harlequins), 11. Tobias Elliott (Saracens), 10. Sam Harris (Bath), 9. Ollie Allan (London Irish);1. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale), 2. Craig Wright (Northampton), 3. Afolabi Fasogbon (London Irish), 4. Harvey Cuckson (Bath), 5. Joe Bailey (Exeter), 6. Nathan Michelow (Saracens), 7. Tristan Woodman (Sale - Captain), 8. Zach Carr (Harlequins)

Replacements

16. James Isaacs (Saracens), 17. Scott Kirk (Bath), 18. James Halliwell (Bristol Bears), 19. Harry Browne (Harlequins), 20. Patrick Pearce (Bristol Bears), 21. Archie McParland (Northampton), 22. Josh Bellamy (Harlequins), 23. Ludo Kolade (Harlequins), 24. George Makepeace-Cubitt (London Irish), 25. Aaron Tull (Bristol Bears)

ITALY U19

15. Francesco Imberti (Torino ASD), 14. Leonardo Sodo Migliori (Lazio), 13. Ferdinando Fusari (Fiamme Oro Rugby), 12. Lorenzo Nanni (Livorno), 11. Marco Scalabrin (Benetton Treviso), 10. Simone Brisighella (Viadana 1970), 9. Lorenzo Casilio (ASD Paese); 1. Alessandro Di Stefano (Experience L'Aquila), 2. Nicholas Gasperini (Stade Francais), 3. Marcos Gallorini (Unione Capitolina), 4. Davide Salvan (Rugby Frassinelle), 5. Enrico Pontarini (Rugby Casale), 6. Olmo D'Alessandro (Rugby Casale), 7. Andrea Toninelli (Rugby Rovato), 8. Jacopo Botturi (Rugby Calvisano - Captain)

Replacements:

16. Valerio Siciliano (Unione Capitolina), 17. Francesco Gandossi (Rugby Rovato), 18. Federico Pisani (Verona), 19. Samuele Mirenzi (VII Torino), 20. Tommaso Ferrari (Verona), 21. Luca Belucci (Fiamme Oro Rugby), 22. Lorenzo La Terza (Rugby Petrarca), 23. Tommaso Simoni (Valpolicella 1974), 24. Patrick De Villiers (Rugby Noceto), 25. Francesco Bini (Florentina), 26. Mirko Belloni (Verona)