Perkins scores a hat-trick for England U18s
Rugby student George Perkins - Credit: Archant
Oaklands College rugby academy’s George Perkins turned a good week into a great one as he helped England U18s beat Wales 43-12 at Neath RFC.
A week after signing a contract with Saracens, the 18-year-old scored a first half hat-trick. Henry Cheeseman, Max Clark and Lucas Slowik all scored a try apiece and Lloyd Evans added 13 points with the boot in England’s comprehensive win.
John Fletcher and Peter Walton’s side made the perfect start and were 14-0 up after ten minutes. Both came from Perkins, and both in similar fashion – the Saracens wing displayed good strength and pace to dive over, as Evans converted.
Good pressure from the pack preluded England’s third try – a quick tap and go penalty from scrum half Homer was given to Cheeseman who touched down.
Perkins completed his hat-trick minutes later, picking the ball up in midfield before smashing through two tackles to touch down between the sticks to make it 28-0 after Evans’ conversion.
Wales did give the home fans something to cheer just before the break, finally breaching the resilient English defence after a spell of heavy pressure.
Evans broke the deadlock with an easy penalty in the second period before Clark scored England’s fifth try and Slowik the sixth to make it 43-5.
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Wales kept pushing though and had their second try after 62 minutes to make it 43-12 which is how it stayed until the end.
Head Coach Fletcher said: “Overall we are pleased with the way we played today, we attacked with real intent and scored some good tries. The forwards created a strong platform for our backs and some of the interplay was good. We improved defensively as the game went on.
“We lacked consistency and accuracy at times which will improve the more the players train and play together. We’ll reflect on the game when we meet up on Thursday and then switch our focus to France on Friday, which will be another big challenge.”
Captain Jack Walker added: “I was massively proud of all the lads today – everyone put in a big shift and we’re pleased to get the result after a good performance. Wales put up a real fight and made it tough for us, but credit to our guys, we got over the gain-line well and deserved to get the win in the end.”
