YOUNG Warriors academy duo Will Butler and James Scott were in action as they helped England Under 20s seal a second bonus-point victory at the World Rugby U20 Championship.
Butler started at centre, while Scott came on in the second row as their country racked up seven tries in a 43-5 thrashing of Italy to cement their place at the top of Pool B of the competition after an opening 39-18 win over Argentina.
England led 26-5 at the break with tries from Marcus Smith, Tom Parton and two for Ben Loader, while Smith kicked three conversions as they secured the four-try bonus-point before half-time.
Italy, who defeated Scotland in their opening fixture, responded through Antoine Koffi but it was all they could muster in a half dominated by Steve Bates’ side.
Second-half scores from Smith, Gabriel Ibitoye and Rory Brand added gloss to an impressive performance from England but the game ended with lock Sam Lewis red carded for an illegal tackle. You can check out the highlights by pressing play above.
England head coach Steve Bates said: “It was a really good first 50 minutes. We put a lot of pressure on Italy, scored seven tries and probably could have scored a couple more.
“It was a really important step forward but we know we can improve and there is lots to come from this side.
“I thought we put them under a lot of pressure up front, we scrummaged really well and that set the platform. We took our opportunities in the first half and despite the game becoming slightly fragmented in the second period I’m still satisfied with the performance.
England now end their Pool B fixtures against Scotland tomorrow in Beziers (kick off 8pm) with the game being streamed live by worldrugby.org.
The semi-finals will take place on Tuesday with finals day being held next Sunday, June 17 in Beziers.