LONDON Irish full back Tom Parton scored the opening try as England Under 20s reached the World Championship final with a thrilling 32-21 win over South Africa on Tuesday.

He crossed as England raced into a 22-7 lead at half time, and while South Africa scored three late tries to narrow the gap, England held on for the win.

Exiles team-mate Josh Basham started at No. 8 for the 2013, 2014 and 2016 champions, with Rory Brand on the bench.

England will now take on host nation France – who shocked New Zealand in the other semi final – as they seek a fourth title in five years on Sunday.

In their final Pool B game, Irish centre Matt Williams scored a second-half try as England beat Scotland 35-10 on Friday, in a game which also featured Exiles wing Ben Loader.

He had grabbed a brace and Parton and Brand also crossed the whitewash when England beat Italy 43-5 in their second outing.

  • NEW signing Bryce Campbell played for USA as they hammered Russia 62-13 in Denver.

The Eagles are due to host Scotland in Houston this coming Saturday.

Fellow signing, hooker Motu Matu'u, represented Samoa in their 24-22 loss to Fiji, with Irish prop Manasa Saulo playing for the victorious side.

Samoa – who will play a World Cup play-off against the winner of this weekend's European qualifier between Germany and Portugal – fell 24-3 behind early in the second period before hitting back with 19 unanswered points.

  • LONDON Irish have announced a number of senior academy re-signings ahead of the 2018/19 season.

Parton, Williams, Jacob Atkins, Brand, Jack Cooke, Loader, Isaac Curtis-Harris, Sam Collingridge, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Austin Hay have all inked new deals at Hazelwood and will join up with the first team squad for pre-season training.

Basham, who made his Premiership debut last season, has decided to focus on his academic studies and has relocated for university.

Academy manager Patrick O’Grady said: “I’m delighted a number of our senior academy squad have being retained ahead of the 2018/19 season and I’m looking forward to seeing them develop throughout pre-season and beyond.

“We have some exciting talent coming through at present and in the coming days we’ll be in a position to announce the players that have been promoted to the senior academy.”