Under 21A Defeated by their English Counterparts

By Paul
December 18 2002

The second choice Welsh under 21 side went down to England at Newbury RFC this afternoon. Although they took the lead after 5 minutes through a try by Narberth wing Andrew Jones, England eventually pulled away in the second half.

In a tight first half, the boot of Andrew Frost was the difference between the sides. The Gloucester full back kicking three penalties, to put his side up 9-5 at the interval.

The English pack began to take over at the beginning of the second half. Several minutes into the half open-side flanker Ben Woods of the Newcastle Falcons extended there lead.

Shortly afterwards the game was all but over, Leicester Tigers centre Danny Hipkiss crossing to score. Outside centre Tom Allen of  Harlequins was on hand to take his sides points tally to 28, but Frost missed the conversion .

The Welsh side never looked like challenging, Gavin Henson's appearance was too short for the Swansea back to make an impact.

Wales Under 21 A: G Knox (Bath); A Jones (Narbeth), C Jones (Sale), A James (Glam Wand), P Mackey (Swansea); M Hook (Newport, capt), R Richards (Neath); G Morris (Pontypridd), Rhys T Thomas (Newport), Rhys Thomas (Newport), M Jones (Swansea), J Goode (Cardiff) L Beach (Pontypridd), R Sowden-Taylor (Cardiff), D Godfrey (Ebbw Vale). Replacements: J Yapp (Cardiff), L Hayden (Neath), B Browster (Saracens), C Rowe (Llanelli), P Clark (Leicester), A Lake (Bridgend), G Henson (Swansea).

Scores: Tries- Andrew Jones (Narbeth)

England Under 21 A:

Scorers: Tries- Ben Woods (Newcastle Flacons), Danny Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers), Tom Allen (Harlequins)
Cons- Andrew Frost (Gloucester) (2)
Pens: Andrew Frost (Gloucester) (3)