As England prepare for their final outing at the 2025 U20 Championship in Italy, they do so with a mixture of emotions. A narrow and ultimately decisive pool-stage defeat to South Africa denied them a place in the semi-finals, ending hopes of retaining the title they won last year in Cape Town.
Instead, they now face Australia again, in a fifth-place playoff – the same side they edged 36-33 just over a week ago, thanks to a late penalty from Ben Coen.
For head coach Mark Mapletoft, the final fixture represents one more opportunity to build on what has been a campaign of growth, hard lessons and reflection.
When asked about his overall assessment of how he thinks the tournament has gone, he said, “Very well. Some definite areas where we’ve improved enormously since the spring. A tinge of disappointment around how well we played against South Africa but got nothing from the game and that consequently cost us. The most pleasing aspect is how we bounced back from that disappointment.”
England needed a bonus-point against South Africa to keep control of their route to the knockout stages. Despite spells of dominance, they came away with neither a win nor any bonus, while Argentina edged through as the best runner-up. Tournament rugby, Mapletoft admitted, can be unforgiving.
“From an output perspective, tournament rugby can be brutal. We didn’t beat South Africa, we could have done, we certainly had enough possession to do so. That’s the harsh reality of it. However, elite level sport is not just about being on a high the whole time. A lot of the staff group have had that for pretty much the last 18 months, it’s all been very positive and that was a bit of a wake-up in terms of it not always being like that.”
That sense of perspective has been mirrored by the squad, particularly in how they responded to disappointment. The team has remained united and focused on finishing the tournament strongly – a mindset that will serve them well in this final clash.
Tom Burrow, England’s captain for the bulk of the campaign, leads the side out for the last time at U20 level. The Sale Sharks lock turns 20 in just over a week and will age out of the programme, but leaves with pride and maturity beyond his years.
“You’ve definitely got more to review and get after,” Burrow said about facing Australia again. “You can learn from experience and how the game went previously and what you’d like to change. In a certain way it is easier because you can use your experience to your advantage. No doubt Australia will be planning to do the same.”
“Australia are a different side to what we’ve played before. They’ve got some unbelievable players with some unbelievable skill level and they pair that with physicality. I think the result against South Africa probably did them a disservice, we’re expecting a proper Test match.”
Burrow has been central to England’s campaign, stepping up as full captain following the injury to co-captain Ben Redshaw. Mapletoft paid tribute to his impact on and off the field.
“Tom has many strengths. First of all, he’s a frighteningly good player. That’s the first thing a player has to be to be captain, one of the first names on the team sheet in their position,” he said.
Looking ahead, the England set-up is already considering how to better support players like Burrow after they graduate from the U20s. The transition from age-grade to senior rugby is rarely straightforward, and with only ten Premiership clubs remaining, competition for game time is fierce.
“That is something that is right at the top of our agenda at the minute. A lot of players transition from 20s and initially find it hard to even play for their first teams. Particularly forwards more so than backs and with just ten clubs, opportunities are less than they were three years ago when there were 13 sides.
“We’re currently exploring what that looks like from a development perspective because the word ‘pathway’ suggests that it continues up and through into the first team and doesn’t just stop.”
Mapletoft also referenced the England A setup’s ability to bridge the gap between youth and men’s rugby, something that he has previously been involved in as head coach for their game against Australia A last autumn.
“The A team is then a bit of a stepping stone for them, I know there are definitely more games on the horizon, the All Blacks game has been mentioned already and hopefully there are a couple of others in the pipeline. They’re opportunities for players stepping out of the 20s to put their hand up and we keep that connection. It’s something at the forefront of our minds at the minute as to how we can do it even better.”
Burrow spoke about the benefits that playing teams from all around the globe has on development. Exposure to southern hemisphere opposition, especially, has broadened his rugby outlook.
“Playing teams from the southern hemisphere, where rugby is very different to where it is back home, it’s cool to see how different interpretations can lead to similar results. It’s just awesome for us boys to be exposed to different kinds of rugby and different ways of playing. Hopefully we can learn from that and take a bit of that into our own game.”
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