England suffer Welsh woe

England were consigned to a play-off for seventh and eighth place today after being beaten by Wales in the IRB Under-21 World Cup.

Wales’ 44-27 victory sends them into the fifth and sixth place game against whoever wins tonight’s encounter between Scotland and France. England, meanwhile, will play the losers of that match.

England were outscored 6-3 on tries at Henley, and could gain little consolation from Chris Bell’s double and an Andy Reay touchdown.

Nathan Brew (two), Matthew Nuttall (two) and Rhodri Gomer-Davies claimed Welsh tries, while there was also a penalty try and 14 points from the boot of fly-half Nicky Robinson.

South Africa’s reign as world champions came to an end when they lost 38-16 against semi-final opponents New Zealand at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford.

New Zealand trailed 16-9 early in the second-half, but staged a superb fightback and scored 29 unanswered points.

Full-back Ben Atiga was the star performer, amassing 18 points, while replacement Tony Koonwaiyou and scrum-half Jimmy Cowan also touched down during an impressive display.

New Zealand will meet Australia or Argentina in next Sunday’s final, also at the Kassam Stadium.