England U20s learning from Six Nations ahead of World Rugby Junior World Championship

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With one game left of the championship, England sit in third position with 14 points, whilst France sits at the top with 20 points with four wins from four games.

England flanker Connor Treacey discussed his excitement of playing. “We always want to try to play to win, I don’t think any international rugby team does otherwise. The challenge is there and I think for us as a playing group we are nothing but excited.”

Last year, England were the only team to beat France in the tournament and Treacey is focused on not letting outside expectation impact the group.

He said, “It’s a balance of focusing on what we can control, our principles, our processes. Keeping it structured to our strengths, because as much as we have a game plan, we can only do as much as we can with the game time.”

The team want to secure a win, but coach Andy Titterrell made it clear that victory of the tournament hasn’t been the teams priority.

“We haven’t spoken about the championship once; that’s not the big picture for us… we will see where we are at the end of the tournament.

“It might be the end of our Six Nations but not the end of our U20 journey. So, no matter the result on Sunday, we can tweak it heading into the world cup.”

England have frequently improved in the second half of the games they have played during this campaign and Titterell discussed how the players are encouraged to play their own game.

“Ultimately, it’s the players who play it and not the coaches … things can be quite touchy within the first 20 to 40 minutes of the game, and it takes a reset to go out there and tweak a few things.

“So, it’s important the lads understand test match rugby and what they want to go after in the first 25 minutes of the game.’

It seems whilst winning is of course at the forefront of minds, the preparation for the 2026 Junior World Championship and learning from each game is a priority.

France is a daunting side to be up against; they are hopeful of a Grand Slam and have a points difference of 73 and four bonus points.

Treacey, however, is not fearful, he said, “Personally, I’m buzzing. I don’t think you play professional sport to shy away from nights like Sunday or crowds like it.

“Looking forward to it and then as soon as the first whistle goes, it’s just a game of rugby and we can feed off the crowd when we can.”

England have currently won three of their games in this championship, only currently falling short to Ireland who beat the side 31-21. Will they once again stop France from securing a Grand Slam?