Harlequins youngster James Chisholm bagged a brace of tries as England U20s kicked off their 2014 IRB Junior World Championship campaign with a 63-3 win over Italy in Pukekohe, New Zealand, this morning.
A hat-trick of tries from Saracens' Nathan Earle, two more from Wasps' Gus Jones, and one-apiece from Gloucester's Billy Burns and Leicester's George Catchpole secured the win, while Northampton's Sam Olver added 16 points with the boot, and Burns two.
A pair of Olver penalties put England 6-3 up before Earle’s first try made it 13-3, before a rolling maul ended with Jones touching down for his fifth England U20 try.
The try third was another one for the forwards, Chisholm scoring from the back of a dominant England scrum, while Earle was quick off the mark after the break to add his second.
A minute later, another Harlequins player, Harry Sloan, set up Earle for his hat-trick try, before Chisholm pounced on a loose ball after a grubber through from Olver for his second.
Jones had his second try with an hour on the clock, dotting down off another rolling maul, while replacement No. 10 Burns scored England’s eighth and Catchpole showed good pace out wide to complete the scoring.
Next up for England are Australia in Auckland at 5.35pm local time on Friday.
Meanwhile, Harlequins' Kyle Sinckler will arrive in Auckland on Wednesday evening to link up with the England senior squad for their tour of New Zealand.
He will be flying out today with 16 players from Premiership winners Northampton and losing finalists Saracens, as well as Bath's Anthony Watson.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We are looking forward to the guys flying in and adding to the group. We watched the Aviva Premiership final and the England XV game against the Barbarians and are pleased with how the players performed and came through.
"It is great to be able to work with a wider group and we feel that the younger players will really benefit from the experience of coming to New Zealand, understanding the culture and challenging themselves in this the most competitive of environments."
