London Irish’s Alex Corbisiero and Jon Fisher played key roles in helping England’s Under 20s clinch a first ever RBS Six Nations Grand Slam by turning on the style to outgun Ireland with seven sparkling tries at Kingsholm on March 14th.
England needed to finish sharply to get the show on the road after a first-half flat spell and an uncharacteristic number of early errors against a combative Irish side.
David Kearney touched down early on for the visitors and fly half Ian Madigan kept them in the game with three first half penalties.
But ultimately they didn’t have England’s pace and firepower, or a back row forward to match Jon Fisher’s all-round excellence.
Fisher, who switched to number eight during the second half, broke tackles down the left and Matt Cox was rewarded for his support run with a score.
The celebrations could really begin when Noah Cato seized on an inside pass and accelerated past three covering defenders to claim his sixth try in five games this season. England cut loose with runners coming from everywhere, another Adam Greendale and Alex Goode combination taking England close and loose-head Nathan Catt ploughing over from close range 10 minutes from time.
Ireland got on the front foot for a brief spell but they couldn’t prevent England attacking from deep and Mark Odejobi outstripped the cover to finish a length-of-the-field counter-attack five minutes from time for a final score of England U20 43 Ireland U20 14.
England U20: Noah Cato (Saracens); Seb Stegmann (Harlequins), Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby), Alex Goode (Saracens), Mark Odejobi (London Wasps); Adam Greendale (Leeds Carnegie), Joe Simpson (London Wasps); Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby), Joe Gray (Northampton Saints), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Graham Kitchener (Worcester Warriors), Scott Hobson (Cornish Pirates), Jon Fisher (London Irish), Matt Cox (Worcester Warriors), Hugo Ellis (London Wasps, captain).
Scorers: Tries: Stegmann, Ellis, Eves, Cox, Cato, Catt, Odejobi. Cons: Goode 4.