France U20 6 England U20 24

Noah Cato scored his third try in three games before England's Under 20s dug in for a stunning victory against the odds on French soil.

The winger's first half score was backed up by a late effort from his Saracens teammate Ben Thomas, a conversion and three penalties from Vicarage Road fly half Alex Goode and one penalty from Newcastle Falcons' Rob Miller.

Heroics were required to keep France scoreless in the final half-hour after Leicester Tigers scrum half Ben Youngs was controversially sin-binned.

Ultimately, though, the win was built on a ferocious contest for the ball and the defending that forced France into errors all night - even when England lost their heads briefly in the second half.

The home side's only reply was a pair of penalties from Mathieu Belie making it a hugely encouraging night for England, given that many of them played in the Under 19 side that conceded 40 points against France at last year's World Championships in Belfast.

And unbeaten England's third win this season puts them on course for the Six Nations title and a potential first Grand Slam at this level if they can overcome Scotland and Ireland next month.

Gloucester's Dan Norton made his debut at full back in the only change from the side that beat Italy 22-13 in Genoa earlier this month with Joe Simpson (London Wasps) and Charlie Sharples (Gloucester) added to the bench.

Norton and his teammates played in a hostile atmosphere in front of a 20,000 sell-out at the Stade des Alpes, but their composure and precision silenced the increasingly frustrated crowd with a superb first half display.

They dominated territory in the opening 20 minutes with Goode firing off one drop goal effort before getting his side on the scoreboard with penalites in the 23rd and 28th minutes for offences at a scrum and a block on the Saracens fly half as he chipped ahead.

England gave away three points when caught offside from the kick-off that followed with Belie successful from 30 metres.

But they produced their best spell of attacking play to respond immediately with Cato extending his try-scoring record.

Luke Eves opened up the space on the right and Youngs, Nathan Catt and Jordan Turner-Hall were all involved before the big wing bashed his way past Sofiane Guitone to the line.

A superb kick chase that anticipated a quick French throw saw Guitone caught out again five minutes later, handing Goode the chance to drill over his third penalty from 35m.England then resisted an onslaught immediately before the break, holding off a succession of driven lineouts and then denying winger Djibril Camara in the left-hand corner.France were in the ascendancy after the interval, though, as Belie quickly cut the lead with a 47th minute penalty before a thunderous spell of pressure during which England were reduced to 14-men when scrum half Youngs was yellow-carded for alleged use of the boot.

Somehow France failed to add to their score while he was off the field and although England competed lustily at the breakdown they couldn't find touch with some hard-earned penalties and some errors of judgment that put them under more pressure going into the last few minutes.

They rallied, though, and the reward was another power-packed run from Cato down the left three minutes from time with the forwards piling in to support him.

Centre Turner-Hall twisted through midfield to within a metre of the line with England's outstanding forwards following up for Thomas to barge his way over with Goode converting to leave the French fans heading for the exits.Miller, a last minute replacement, ushered them on the way with a penalty from 50m after France infringed again at the kick-off.France: Sofiane Guitone; Vincent Melin, Charles Giminez, Alexandre Dumoulin, Djibril Camara; Mathieu Belie, Thierry Lacrampe; Rabah Slimani, Marc Antoine Rallier, Kevin Kervarac, Yoann Maestri (captain), Adrien Jaulhac, Yohan Vivalda, Arthur Chollon, Raphael Lakafia.Replacements: Clement Maynardier for Rallier 55, Wenceslas Lauret for Chollon 63, Jean-Baptiste Roidot for Vivalda 66, Adrien Timoteo for Melin 70.Scorers: Penalties: Belie 2 England: Dan Norton (Gloucester Rugby); Seb Stegmann (Harlequins), Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby), 12 Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), Noah Cato (Saracens); Alex Goode (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers); Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby), Joe Gray (Northampton Saints), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Ben Thomas (Saracens), Scott Hobson (Cornish Pirates), Jon Fisher (London Irish), Matt Cox (Worcester Warriors), Hugo Ellis (London Wasps, captain).

Replacements: Andy Saull (Saracens) for Cox 63, Joe Simpson (London Wasps) for Youngs 66, Tom Sargeant (Harlequins) for Saull 70, Billy Moss (Bath Rugby) for Catt 77, Rob Miller (Newcastle Falcons) for Turner-Hall 79.

Scorers: Tries: Cato, Thomas. Conversion: Goode. Penalties: Goode 3, Miller.

Yellow card: Youngs 51-61Referee: Andy MacPherson (SRU)