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'He’s lying, it’s all Asher!': England U20s' Cape Town title party
By Liam Heagney
Cape Town Stadium was quite the post-game battlefield on Friday night. Turn right in the corridor facing out towards the field and you encountered the sombre French, distraught that their hopes of winning a fourth World Rugby U20 Championship title in a row has crashed and burned on a South African mid-winter’s night under a full moon.
Step left, though, and the contrast couldn’t have been starker. Wild celebrations were unfolding, commemorating the first age-grade England world title in eight years.
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Mark Mapletoft’s side were immense in putting manners on a French side who needed a last-second converted consolation to massage the scoreboard to 21-13 and make it look that the second-half pasting that they had suffered wasn’t as terrible as it looked.
Forget the mannerly mezzanine post-game set-up, where there was an African band playing in the middle of drinks stands located on either side of the tunnel corridors. Party central was inside was the England dressing room.
When two of their mainstays poked their heads around the corner to give RugbyPass a sense of the jubilation unfolding in their inner sanctum, the giddy feelings of the overjoyed Henry Pollock and Asher Opoku-Fordjour were obvious.
Beaming with Hollywood smiles and with polished medals dangling around their necks, here is what the pair briefly managed to say before retreating and getting stuck back into the messiness and madness of being well-deserved age-grade world champions:
RugbyPass: Fantastic performance. Well done. Congratulations. What does being a world champion mean to you?
Pollock: Honestly, we are so proud of the boys. What an effort that is, an 80-minute performance against a really strong France side. We’ve done it, eh! Champions of the world!! Let’s GO!!!
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RugbyPass: What was the difference?
Pollock: Our scrum. Asher’s here. Our scrum was incredible as always. Yeah, over to Asher.
Opoku-Fordjour: Scrums win games!
Pollock: Salads don’t!
Pollock: But listen, great effort, we’re really proud of the boys are we are going to celebrate tonight. Shout out to France, what a good outfit but at the end of the day we are the champions of the world. So, you can’t argue with that, can you?!
CHAMPIONS! ????????#WorldRugbyU20s | @EnglandRugby | #ENGvFRA pic.twitter.com/jJSLwQNyu9
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 19, 2024
RugbyPass: Yellow card swing it?
Opoku-Fordjour: No, we were always…
RugbyPass: What we mean is you scored a lot of important points in that period.
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Pollock: We definitely capitalised on that yellow card. But look, the work of the forwards was outstanding and then we had the backs to pull all the strings on the outside and we got the points we needed. Look, a full squad effort. No individuals in this team. It’s a brotherhood and we are so happy.
RugbyPass: How fabulous is it to win to ensure that this brotherhood really is the thing?
Pollock: Honestly, it’s one of the best feelings in the world. To be able to do it out here in South Africa with such a good group of boys and such a good coaching staff is amazing. Yeah, look, we are going to celebrate hard tonight and why not? We are champions of the world!
Opoku-Fordjour: Do you want a beer?
RugbyPass: I’m grand.
Opoku-Fordjour: Naughty boy!
RugbyPass: Nathan Catt has just been singing the praises of the scrum. You have been phenomenal the last couple of games.
Opoku-Fordjour: Thank you!
Showing how to dominate in the scrum! ?@EnglandRugby score their second try in this final with everything still all to play for! ???????
Watch all the action live on RugbyPass TV ?#WorldRugbyU20s | #ENGvFRA pic.twitter.com/C6JuUJrBTx
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 19, 2024
RugbyPass: Talk us through what is it like, that feeling of scrum dominance and making it count?
Opoku-Fordjour: Loads of people think it’s the front row but it’s all eight.
Pollock: He’s lying, it’s all Asher!
Opoku-Fordjour: It’s all eight of us. We all have to push for that scrum to move forward and for it to work. It’s all eight of us.
RugbyPass: First person you contacted as a world champion?
Opoku-Fordjour: Well, I’ve no wi-fi in this building right now.
Pollock: He’s lying. First person he contacted was his girlfriend (huge laughter).
Opoku-Fordjour: Nah, my dad’s here. My agent’s here. So I went over to speak to them.
Pollock: Honestly, my family are out here and it was very special to have them out here and look, we are going to celebrate hard tonight and you never know, you might see them out there as well.
Opoku-Fordjour: Are you sure you don’t want a beer?
RugbyPass: In a second, don’t worry. We’ll have one. Final question, this is not just a Championship, it’s a double with the Six Nations title. Fantastic year overall?
Pollock: Honestly, look, it’s not just the squad that we had today. We had a 40-man squad at the start of this year out in Portugal and that’s what the work is for, the icing on the top. That’s the cherry in the top and we’re loving life. Champions of the world, eh? Let’s go…!!
Watch highlights from England’s World Rugby Under 20 Championship victory for free on RugbyPass TV ?
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 19, 2024
