Wales outmuscled by England in feisty U20 Six Nations clash as tempers flare in front of thousands of fans

Wales' winless run against England in the U20s Six Nations goes on as they came off second best in a feisty encounter in Bath on Friday night.

Richard Whiffin's side looked good with ball in hand but were outmuscled by a hugely physical England side who secured a bonus-point win in front of a 14,500-strong crowd at the Recreation Ground. Tries for Alex Wills, Archie McParland and Ioan Jones saw the hosts take a commanding lead inside half an hour, before Huw Anderson brought Wales back into it with a score before half-time.

Tempers flared on more than one occasion, particularly in the second-half, with Scott Kirk scoring the only other try of the game to seal a 28-7 win for England.

Whiffin made three changes to the side that beat Scotland a week ago, with forwards Freddie Chapman, Patrick Nelson and Harry Beddall all brought into the side. But it was at scrum-time where Wales struggled throughout, with England dominating the visitors, who did everything possible to avoid set-pieces.

The hosts piled on the pressure right from the off, with Wills diving over in the corner to draw first blood. Wales did well to weather the storm but McPartland doubled their lead with 15 minutes played, before Jones scooped up Wills' kick-chase to score England's third.

Some wayward kicking from fly-half Rory Taylor meant it stayed at 15-0, with Anderson reducing the deficit moments after Jones' score. After a superb charge down by captain Harri Ackerman, the Welsh full back hit a great line to cross and give his side hope before half-time.

While there was still plenty of passion shown after the break, there were less points scored, with Taylor finally getting one over from the tee before his replacement Josh Bellamy nudged England further ahead.