There was a surprising win for Ireland Under-20 up in the Alps, no match in Rovigo and a solid win for Wales in Colwyn Bay.

Round 2 Results

England vs Italy, postponed
Wales vs Scotland, 28-15
Ireland vs France, 13-12

Round 1 Results

England vs Scotland, 59-3
Ireland vs Wales, 11-6
France vs Italy, postponed.

France vs Ireland

The score was close at 13-12, but Ireland scored two tries to none to record their first victory over France in this age group.

The weather was, ineluctably, cold as it was everywhere in Europe but, in the falling snow,  the French crowd of some six thousand were hot under the collar when the TMO, Derek Bevan, advised against a try when, in the last minute, No.8 Karl Chateau plunged for the line.

The half-time score  was 6-3 to France and then, at the start of the second half, Foster Horan, who had replaced Sam Coghlan Murray on the left wing after just 30 minutes of the match, caught a kick near the left touchline, ran infield and got through two tackles before breaking free of  Bastien Chalureau to score under the posts. It was a great individual effort.10-6. But Clément Otazo swung his successful boot twice more to put France ahead 12-.10 with 20 minutes to play. Ireland attacked, Yohann Artru was penalised for preventing the opportunity to take a quick line-out and JJ Hanrahan goaled. 13-12 with seven minutes to play.

France, passionately supported, drove at the  line. Chateau's effort was inconclusive but it was a five-metre scrum to France. Ireland survived.

Scorers:

For France:
Pens: Clément Otazo 4

For Ireland:
Tries: Horan
Con: Jackson
Pens: Jackson, Hanrahan

The teams

France: 15 Darly Domvo, 14 Jean-Yves Zebango, 13 Jonathan Danty, 12 Ilian Perraux, 11 Yohann Artru, 10 Clément Otazo, 9 Tom Ecochard (captain), 8 Karl Chateau, 7 Julien Kazubek, 6 Kelian Galletier, 5 Paul Jedrasiak, 4 Bastien Chalureau, 3 Florian Fresia, 2 Raphaël Carbou, 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Pascal Cotet, 18 Jean-Baptiste Custoja, 19 Andrew Chauveau, 20 Johan Aliouat, 21 Eric Escande, 22 Fabrice Catala, 23 Julien Farnoux.

Ireland: 15 Shane Layden, 14 Conor Finn, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 JJ Hanrahan, 11 Sam Coghlan-Murray, 10 Paddy Jackson (captain), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Aaron Conneely, 6 Conor Gilsenan, 5 Daniel Qualter, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Peter Reilly, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Kyle McCall
Replacements: 16 Des Merrey, 17 James Rael, 18 Diarmuid Higgins, 19 Tadhg Beirne, 20 Jordan Coughlan, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Foster Horan

Referee: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Assistant referees: Rhys Thomas (Wales), Chris Williams (Wales)
Television match official: Derek Bevan (Wales)

Wales vs Scotland

There was a capacity crowd at Parc Eirias for this match. It was a bigger win than the 11-6 over Ireland but Wales still had to battle against the willing Scots even with the home support of a capacity crowd.

At half-time Wales led 18-3 and with 18 minutes to go the home side led 28-3 and victory seemed easy but the brave Scots had other ideas and with two tries by Jamie Farndale brought Wales to earth.

In the first half Wales bashed and then went wide for a try by fullback Ross Jones and Luke Morgan got the first of his two tries. After a Sam Davies penalty early in the second half Morgan got his second try, and the match seemed set for a big home score. But Farndale brought honour to his team.

Scorers:

For Wales:
Tries: Morgan 2, Ross Jones
Cons: Sam Davies 2
Pens: Sam Davies 3

For Scotland:
Tries: Farndale 2
Con: Leonard
Pen: Leonard

The teams:
 
Wales: 15 Ross Jones, 14 Iolo Evans, 13 Luke Williams, 12 Cory Allen, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Ieuan Jones, 7 Daniel Thomas, 6 Ellis Jenkins, 5 Rhodri Hughes, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Kirby Myhill (captain), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Darran Harris, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Dan Suter, 19 Thomas Young, 20 Dan Crimmins, 21 Joshua Davies, 22 Jordan Williams, 23 Dominic Franchi

Scotland: 15 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 14 Jamie Farndale, 13 Robbie Fergusson, 12 Tommaso Allan, 11 Michael Crawley, 10 Harry Leonard,  (captain), 9 Scott Steele, 8 Jamie Swanson, 7 Will Bordill, 6 Mitch Eadie, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Adam Sinclair, 3 Alex Allan, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Rewplacements: 16 Russell Anderson, 17 Gavin Robertson, 18 Andrew Redmayne, 19 Callum Reid, 20 Struan Cessford, 21 Finn Russell,  22 Matthew Torrance, 23 Tom Steven

Referee: Ian Tempest (England)
Assistant referees: Greg Garner, Robin Goodliffe (England)
Television match official: Brian Campsall (England)

Italy vs England

Winter won this one. Italy have now had both their matches postponed, but they are due to play Farnce in Bourgoin on this weekend.

The teams:

Italy: 15 David Odiete, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Andrea Bettin, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Riccardo Della Rossa, 9 Guido Calabrese, 8 Alessio Zdrilich, 7 Federico Conforti, 6 Ruben Riccioli, 5 Matteo Ferro, 4 Alfio Luca Mammana, 3 Antonio Brandolini, 2 Giovanni Maistri (captain), 1 Sami Drissi
Replacements: 16 Luca Conti, 17 Luca Scarsini, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Cesare Berton, 20 Andrea De Marchi, 21 Edoardo Padovani, 22 John Apperley, 23 Alex Morsellino

England: 15 Ben Ransom, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Charlie Walker, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Tommy Bell, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Jack Clifford, 7 Chris Walker (captain), 6 Dominic Barrow, 5 George Merrick, 4 Tom Price, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Scott Spurling, 1 Luke Cowan-Dickie
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 Elliot Stooke, 20 Will Skuse (Bath), 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Arnott

Referee: Cédric Marchat (France)
Assistant referees: Sébastien Cloute (France), Arnaud Blondel (France)
Television match official: Vincent Azoulay (France)