England’s Under 20s have plenty of reasons to be positive after opening their IRB Junior World Championship campaign with a 41-17 win over Fiji at Rodney Parade.

Worcester wing Miles Benjamin led the way with two tries and Saracens pair Noah Cato and Alex Goode, and Harlequins duo Seb Stegmann and Jordan Turner-Hall added two more.

Goode’s penalty and four conversions put England out of sight at 41-0 up by half-time before they lost their way.

The Grand Slam winners lost their way after that, conceding three tries and losing replacement hooker Joe Gray to the sin-bin for a technical offence late in the game.

But coach Mark Mapletoft insists there is plenty to build on before the remaining Pool C games against Canada at Rodney Parade on June 10 (5pm) and Australia (June 14).

Mapletoft said: “To say it was a game of two halves sums it up perfectly but to score six tries against Southern Hemisphere opposition in 40 minutes is a huge positive.

“At the start of the second half we had some chances then lost that cutting edge and that maybe contributeda to a loss of concentration and contributed to Fiji battling their way back into the game

“We’ll be positive. We scored good tries from all over the field and looked sharp and enthusiastic. In the first 10 minutes of the second half we had three or four opportunities but just couldn’t get people on the end of them.

“The big thing now for the guys is Canada on Tuesday and they showed their spirit and battling qualities against Australia. As coaches we also have to look ahead to Australia, as it looks like being the key game, but we certainly will give Canada the respect they are due.”

Captain Hugo Ellis (London Wasps) was equally positive about the tries scored and chances created, particularly when England counter-attacked from deep.

Ellis said: “We’d set our stall out to come out and throw down a marker for the tournament and we played some outstanding rugby.

“After half-time we made some mistakes, made some changes and struggled with the pace Fiji were able to put on the game.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t put Fiji to bed but in that first half we did play some spectacular stuff. There are an awful lot of positives to come out of that game.”

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