England 45-21 Ireland
England ran out deserving winners to collect their third World Rugby Under-20 Championship title after dominating proceedings throughout at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Ireland trailed 21-0 at the break and while they produced three second-half tries they never looked like getting within striking distance of the hosts.
Ireland’s hopes of taking the game to England never materialised and it was the young men in white who bossed matters from start to finish.
Crucially, referee Paul Williams pinged Ireland in the first scrum and it became clear that Nigel Carolan's side were not going to be able to use one of their main weapons.
England had all the front-foot rugby and were out of sight by half-time.
Joe Marchant got them off the mark after 13 minutes and number eight Callum Chick followed with a second after 27 minutes.
Lock Huw Taylor got the third just after the half-hour mark and man of the match Harry Mallinder, who finished with 25 points, converted all three.
The Northampton Saints player displayed all his Premiership experience to dictate the game and he struck for two tries himself in the third quarter.
Hooker Adam McBurney eventually got Ireland moving with a try off a lineout after 47 minutes that Johnny McPhillps converted.
But Mallinder, son of Saints coach Jim, got over for his second try and converted it to make it 35-7.
Ireland never gave up and Shane Daly crossed after a superb break from deep by full-back Jacob Stockdale, with McPhillips converting again to reduce the gap.
But then Ireland scrum-half Stephen Kerins was binned for blocking and while Ireland initially only conceded the score from the penalty, England got their sixth try before it was back to 15 against 15 when Marchant got over.
Ireland refused to die and Leinster number eight Max Deegan got a good try in the closing stages with Brett Connon converting.
But that was as close as they got as England ran out deserving winners to claim the title and leave Ireland having to settle for silver — their best ever finish.
England: M Malins; S Aspland-Robinson, J Marchant, J Williams, M Gallagher; H Mallinder, M Green; L Boyce, J Singleton, B Walker; S South, H Taylor; G Nott, W Evans, C Chick.
Replacements: H Randall for Green (32), W Stuart for B Walker (53), A Kitchener for South (61), J Willis for Nott (61), T West for Boyce (65), C Piper for Singleton (69), O Thorley for Gallagher (72), M Wright for Aspland-Robinson (72).
Ireland: J Stockdale (Belfast Harlequins / Ulster); M Byrne (Terenure / Leinster), S Daly (Cork Con / Munster), C O’Brien (Clontarf / Leinster), H Keenan (UCD / Leinster); J McPhillips (Queen’s University / Ulster), S Kerins (Sligo / Connacht); A Porter (UCD / Leinster), A McBurney (Ballymena / Ulster), B Betts (Young Munster / Munster); S O’Connor (Cashel / Munster), J Ryan (Lansdowne / Leinster); G Jones (UCD / Leinster), D Aspil (St Mary’s RFC / Leinster), M Deegan (Lansdowne / Leinster).
Replacements: J O’Brien (UCD / Leinster) for C O’Brien (56), B Connon (Newcastle Falcons) for McPhillips (57), V O’Brien (Cork Con / Munster) for McBurney (61), K Brown (Shannon / Munster) for Brown (62), N Saunders (Epsom College/Exiles) for Kerins (70), E Mintern (Cork Constitution/Munster) for O’Connor (70), A Coyle (Naas/Leinster) for Betts (75), J Bollard (Dublin University / Leinster) for Porter 79).
Scorers:
England: Tries: H Mallinder (2), J Marchant (2), C Chick, H Taylor. Cons: Mallinder (6). Pens: Mallinder
Ireland: Tries: A McBurney, S Daly, M Deegan. Cons: J McPhillips (2), B Connon
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand).
