U20s: England to face USA in final

England rounded off a clean sweep of wins in the group stage of the Nations Cup today, but were made to work for it rather more than in their first two games, Wales holding them to only three tries and a 29-3 win (see here for RFUW match report). For the first time in her England career Lizell did not get on the scoresheet, and Sasha had her shortest run-out so far (only 10 minutes). England had perhaps stepped off the gas slightly - certainly there were a number of changes to the starting lineup for this game - a tactic that would be sensible with the final only three days away.

In that final they will meet the USA who came back from a difficult start to run out winners over Canada 38-20 - the first time they have ever beaten their North American rivals in an age group international. In fact the whole tournament has been a bit of a disaster for Canada, conceding over 100 points in three games despite the huge effort that they have made to develop the game in recent years - but all that effort seems to have been undermined by inept preparation for this tournament.

But the Canadians' disappointment must pale into insignificance compared to Wales - missing out on the final as a result of one sloppy pass - the fate of their entire Nations Cup programme overturned by one fractional misjudgement. But that is sport, especially at this level!