England U20 Andy Short flying over for his second try in a similar fashion to Chris Ashton over the weekend

ON A weekend where England Seniors notched up eight tries, England U20 went three better, scoring 11 on the way to beating their Italian counterparts 74-3.Chris Ashton may have stolen the headlines for Martin Johnson’s men with his try-scoring exploits, but Worcester Warriors wing Andy Short matched the Northampton man, also scoring four times in the U20s emphatic win.

While Ashton’s now infamous dive has caused a stir in the rugby world, Short is much more accustomed to touching down before receiving a pat on the back from his teammates, although he couldn’t resist flying over the try-line for his first. “It just opened up for me,” he said. “The pitch was quite soft so I just made a dive for it. It wasn’t quite as spectacular as Ashton’s but I’ll take the comparisons if it means scoring four tries every week!”

“From a personal point of view I’m over the moon to get four. It’s the most I’ve ever scored in a match – I normally play centre but I’m getting a taste for being out on the wing now!”

Short was joined by London Wasps centre Elliot Daly in heading over the white wash on four occasions in a blistering display of ruthlessness and precision by Rob Hunter’s men at Bath Rugby’s Recreation Ground.

Short though is quick to quell any murmurings of a Grand Slam just yet, and said: “We’re just taking it one game at a time. It’s a cliché, but the moment anybody’s focus moves beyond the next match is the moment you’ve lost it. Our preparation for the Italy game was spot on. We all put a lot of hard work in during the week and we took that into the game. We were accurate and absolutely nailed it, everything that we’ve been working on in training came off for us.”

England U20 take on France in their next match at Short’s home ground Sixways Stadium in Worcester.

Tickets can be purchased from Worcester Warriors for as little as £10 for adults, by calling on 01905 454 183