England enjoys successful Junior Touch Championships

England’s four teams experienced a successful weekend in Vichy, winning three of the four categories and pushing France all the way in the fourth.

While the Boys 18 and Mixed 15 teams had a Test series with Ireland and a round-robin competition respectively, the Girls 18 and Mixed 18 teams had league campaigns followed by final day knockouts.

These would have been dramatic in themselves, but the tension was magnified by the prospect of 20 minute shootouts rather than the 40 minute games which had been played on days one and two, thanks to thunderstorms which had been forecast across central France.

The Girls 18’s semi-final against Ireland was straightforward enough, the unbeaten England team progressing 5-0. But in the final they came up against a Wales outfit which came into the game buoyed by an extra time win over France, and which matched England try-for-try.

Tied 4-4 at the hooter, the game headed into extra time, and there was plenty more drama to be packed into the next two minutes. England had the tap-off, piled on the pressure and were rewarded by Mia Watts’ try in the corner. But Wales still had 45 seconds to reply, and when they did so the contest headed into 3-v-3 sudden death. England had extra space, but – more importantly – the ball, and a Watts pass put Phoebe Simon into the clear on the right and over the whitewash.

England had been favourites in the Girls 18 final, but hosts France carried that tag into the Mixed 18 final following an unbeaten round-robin.

This had included a pair of wins over England, but in the final the English stepped up their game several notches to take play to the French, and while they were conceding tries, they were also scoring and indeed led 4-3 at the break.

The first five minutes of the second half were equally frantic with another seven tries being shared to make the score 7-7. But at this point the defences started to get on top, and there were no further tries between then and the hooter.

Into extra time, and the next two minutes were equally tense, France edging in front 8-7 before England had one final opportunity to take the game into 3-v-3. The overlap was created and the pass given, but the ball hit the deck and France had their home fans in raptures.

The Mixed 15 team had put one hand on the gold medal at the start of day two with a win over the French which meant they had gone through the first completed round-robin undefeated.

With each team playing each other twice there were three matches to squeeze into the morning of day three, and with further wins over Belgium, Wales and France, England had won the medal with a fantastic record of eight matches played, all won, with 79 tries scored and just 11 conceded.

Meanwhile the Boys 18 team had a five-match Test series with Ireland, and while the Irish improved considerably over the course of the weekend, showing that the future of Touch on that side of the Irish Sea is positive – following Ireland also reaching the Mens Open final in Nottingham – England still currently have the edge.