A SPIRITED England under 20 side, featuring Worcester Warriors duo Matt Kvesic and Andy Short, were unable to complete their Junior World Championship Italian job after suffering final heartache against New Zealand, losing 33-22 in Padova.

A brutish display from Rob Hunter’s side ensured England were always within touching distance of their southern hemisphere rivals, but clinical finishing from the Baby Blacks cost England dear.

England’s three tries came from Wasps wing Christian Wade, who grabbed a brace, and Sale Sharks prop Henry Thomas. Leicester Tigers fly-half George Ford kicked the other seven points.

England had started much the brighter of the two sides, displaying their intent from the off and took the lead with six minutes on the clock.

A smart run by Saracens inside-centre Owen Farrell opened space up for Wade out wide and, when Farrell found the Wasps man, he made no mistake in going over for his sixth try of the competition, with Ford adding the extras to make it 7-0.

New Zealand almost hit back with 22 minutes played when a kick from Saracens full-back Ben Ransom was charged down and the Kiwis forced the ball out wide, but an excellent cover tackle by Thomas pushed the player into touch and the try was disallowed by the TV Match Official.

However , they did get onto the scoreboard when South African referee Jaco Peyper penalised England for an off-side in the same passage of play and fly-half Gareth Anscombe scored to make the score 7-3.

With the momentum in their favour, the Kiwis went over for their first try soon after, Charles Piutau scoring in the corner after Lima Sopoaga attacked the right-hand side of the pitch where Worcester wing Short lay injured, freeing up space to exploit.

Both sides then exchanged penalties to make the score 13-10 in New Zealand’s favour, and the Kiwi’s scored their second try of the game just before half-time. Prop Ben Tameifuna forced his way over the try line, with Anscombe adding the extras to make the score 20-10 at half-time.

England conceded a penalty early in the second-half, Anscombe converting to make the score 23-10. Ford looked to reduce the deficit to 10 with a penalty of his own, but his kick sailed marginally wide.

Just when New Zealand threatened to run away with the game, England began to dominate possession, causing the Kiwis plenty of problems. England eventually turned their pressure into points when Thomas barged his way over the line to score a brilliant team try, making the score 23-17 after Ford’s conversion.

With 50 minutes on the clock, it was England’s turn to have a try disallowed. Warriors flanker Kvesic dived over between the posts, but the TMO deemed the ball not to have been touched down.

England were certainly in the ascendancy at that point, and with the ball in hand always looked liked scoring. Their third try came on the hour through Wade, who kicked through to score after some excellent work by club mate Elliott Daly. Ford’s conversion would have given England the lead, but his kick went wide, leaving his side one point behind at 23-22.

A successful New Zealand penalty, again by Anscombe, soon after the restart made the score 26-22 and in the final 10 minutes the Baby Blacks effectively put the game to bed when full-back Beauden Barrett touched down a grubber to make the score 33-22. New Zealand then held out to win their fourth successive Junior World Championship.

Click here for the very latest Worcester Warriors match updates and news - Tom Guest on Twitter.