The Australian Schoolboys suffered a heartbreaking 30-28 loss in the dying stages of their tour match against England Under 18 at Sale Rugby Club on Sunday.

Winger Kimami Sitauti piled on two second-half tries to give Australia a 28-25 lead in the 60th minute but England fought back through a late try to Mark Jennings to claim the entertaining encounter.

Australia held a 16-11 halftime lead courtesy of a try to captain Liam Gill which was converted by the reliable boot of flyhalf Rowan Saifloloi, who also slotted three penalties in the first half.

England flyhalf George Ford, who recently became the youngest player at 16 to appear in a professional club game with Leicester Tigers, finished the game with eight points in England's four-tries-to-three victory.

Australian Schoolboys coach Rob Nowlan said he was proud of his side's gritty performance against a classy England outfit.

"It is a tragic loss for our boys but that's the way it goes," Nowlan said.

"You've got to be able to close games out and unfortunately we weren't able to do that.

"This 18s side was much more in our boys' league, this was a game we could have won as compared to games against Under 19 sides we have played on tour when we were never in the hunt.

"We've got two more of those games coming up. It's a significant challenge for our boys."

The Australian Schoolboys play England Under 19 Regional Academies on Wednesday before the last match on their tour to the UK and Ireland, a Test against England Under 19 Academies on Saturday.

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