IRB Junior World Cup - A personal view

As for many Warriors fans I was very excited and thrilled that England and Wales got into the final of the IRB Junior World Cup. Stunning the Southern Hemisphere teams that had dominated the competition in past events.Ben Howard was the latest of several young Warriors to get his chance to play for his country and he has been kind enough to write an account of his experience. Thanks Ben for sharing this with us! Powick Eastander  

After an unforgettable season with the Warriors, it was with great excitement that I headed off in June with the England U20’s to the IRB Junior World Championship held in France. The 12 team tournament, split into 3 groups and based between the towns of Vannes, Nantes and La Roche-sur-Yon provided an awesome opportunity for young guys to play in high pressure matches whilst testing themselves against the best players in the world at their age group.

Having won the 6 Nations back in March, we were all looking forward to the tournament and seeing how we would compare on the world stage, especially against the Southern Hemisphere giants who had dominated the competition since its beginning. The holders South Africa were the first team other than New Zealand to have ever won the tournament whilst the latter had never failed to reach a final.

Our group, based in La Roche-sur-Yon was the first major obstacle, comprising of the hosts France, the holders South Africa, and the USA, competing in the competition for the first time and eager to prove themselves at that level. The atmosphere at the opening match was one I’ll never forget, with seemingly every member of the stadium cheering on France to win. It’s amazing how fanatical the French rugby fans are. Despite this we managed to avoid a potential banana skin and come away with a convincing 30-6 victory. Next up however was South Africa, a match that didn’t go to plan. Having gone into half time 23-7 down, we managed a second half fight back which sadly still culminated in a 31-24 loss. As such we went into the USA game knowing that only a big points victory would guarantee a semi final place as the best ranked 2nd place team in the groups. Thankfully this one went our way, and a record breaking 109-0 victory secured a Semi final match against New Zealand in Vannes. I was also happy to finally get on the scoreboard in this match and sneak in for a couple of tries!

Prior to the Semi final no England U20 side had ever beaten the Baby Blacks, nor had New Zealand never reached the final of this competition, thus we knew what a challenge this match would be. I was lucky enough to start on the wing and with it face the Haka, something that will last long in memory! The game itself was one of two halves, the first went to us, as we came out firing and went into the break 23-8 up. However the New Zealand fight back brought them as close as 23-21 before a late try and penalty allowed us to secure a place in the final with a 33-21 victory.

The final itself, although memorable for the result is one that on a personal level I feel could have gone much better. Once again I was lucky enough to start potentially the biggest match of my career to date, with nerves leading up to kick off at an all time high! Yet the first half just didn’t go for us as we found ourselves 15-3 down at the interval. Yet thankfully a sustained period of second half pressure allowed us to dominate and come away with the 23-15 victory and with it the World Cup. From then on I must admit the post match memories become steadily more hazy! But it was a perfect end to an unbelievable 4 weeks away. Undoubtedly there are some extremely talented individuals in the squad who will go onto much bigger things, but on the whole it was the way the team gelled together which I believe led primarily to the success.

On a personal level, although there are many areas of my game still to work on, the experience of playing in those matches was invaluable, and the intensive period away helped me improve immensely. Although obviously not as physical as the Premiership, the matches were much quicker and more open, meaning that skills and decision making had to be spot on. Hopefully now I can use this experience to keep improving under the new coaches, as all the boys are excited about what lies ahead.