Under-20 Six Nations: England 61 Italy 0

Former Coopers Coborn pupil George Perkins set England on their way to a convincing win over their Italian rivals at Plymouth last night.

Perkins touched down after only five minutes to open the floodgates at The Brickfields, in front of a crowd of over 3,000, and England went on to run in eight more tries in a one-sided rout.

Beaten 21-15 by Wales in their opening fixutre, England started brightly and moved the ball out wide for Saracens youngster Perkins to cross the try line.

Will Owen picked up from a loose Italian line-out to claim the second try, with Ellis Genge next to touch down after a strong English line-out.

Howard Packman and Joe Marchant got their names on the scoresheet as England built a 35-0 lead by the interval.

And the pair went over again early in the second half as the home side continued to dominate.

Marchant completed his hat-trick on 53 minutes, showing great pace to race through the Italian defence.

And although conditions deteriorated late on, England added a ninth try with five minutes left through Jake Farnworth.

Coach Jon Called said: “We’re really pleased with the performance from the lads, particularly against a physical and passionate Italian side.

“The response from last week was spot on and it puts us in a good place as we head into the fallow week.

“The fans at Plymouth were excellent – to get over three 3,000 in was a credit to the club and they made themselves heard. Ireland next up will be a huge test, especially in Dublin, but it’s one we’ll relish.”

Man of the match Marchant added: “It was pretty special to get three tries, but it was a real team effort.

“We knew that the conditions would be tricky but we fronted up and put in a good performance. Italy were very tough and we’ve got a few bruised bodies, but it’s great to get our first win of the campaign.”

England face Ireland at Donnybrook Stadium in Dublin on February 27, before hosting Scotland at Darlington on March 13 and France a week later at Brighton.

Scorers, England: Perkins 1T, Owen 1T, Genge 1T, Packman 2T, Marchant 3T, Jake Farnworth 1T; Jennings 6C, Mitchell 1C, Marchant 1C.

England: 15. Piers O’Conor (Wasps Rugby); 14. George Perkins (Saracens); 13. Joe Marchant (Harlequins); 12. Charlie Thacker (Leicester Tigers); 11. Howard Packman (Northampton Saints); 10. Rory Jennings (Bath Rugby); 9. Stuart Townsend (Exeter Chiefs); 1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Rugby); 2. Jack Walker (Yorkshire Carnegie); 3. Paul Hill (Yorkshire Carnegie); 4. Kieran Treadwell (Harlequins); 5. Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, captain); 6. Charlie Beckett (Leicester Tigers); 7. Will Owen (Leicester Tigers); 8. James Chisholm (Harlequins). Replacements: 16. Jake Farnworth (Leicester Tigers) on for Jack Walker 52 mins; 17. Tom West (Wasps Rugby) on for Ellis Genge 70 mins; 18. Ciaran Parker (Sale Sharks) on for Paul Hill 52 mins; 19. Joe Batley (Gloucester Rugby) on for Charlie Beckett 52 mins; 20. Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) on for Will Owen 52 mins; 21. James Mitchell (Sale Sharks) on for Stuart Townsend 52 mins; 22. Tom Morton (Sale Sharks) on for Rory Jennings 52 mins; 23. Tom Howe (Wasps Rugby) on for Tom Morton 70 mins.