The next crop of England stars to battle in South Africa
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: England’s Under-20 squad to travel to South Africa for the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship has been confirmed.
Head coach Mark Mapletoft and assistant coach Andy Titterrell have named their 30-strong personnel for this year’s tournament, with their first match in Pool C against Argentina taking place on Saturday, June 29 at Athlone Stadium.
Leicester Tigers forward Finn Carnduff became the first England U20's player in three years to lead his country to Under-20 Six Nations glory back in March and continues his captaincy this summer as the squad’s most experienced player (15 competitive caps).
Twenty-two current squad members attained caps in the victorious Six Nations Championship recently with 18 of the squad having made senior competitive appearances for their parent clubs in the 2023/24 season. The team boasts 145 cumulative U20 caps, with 27 players progressing through the England Rugby Men’s Pathway with either U17, U18 or U19 caps.
Arthur Green (Bath), Cameron Miell and Ollie Allan (both Leicester Tigers), Saracens’ Jack Bracken and Angus Hall, Benjamin Coen (Exeter Chiefs) and Lucas Friday of Harlequins are the seven uncapped players will make their U20 bows in South Africa. Each of whom have earned minutes in England’s recent uncapped outings against Coventry RFC or Georgia.
England continue their U20 Championship with pool stage outings against Fiji (July 4) and hosts South Africa (July 9) at Athlone Stadium before the tournament knockout fixtures. Supporters can view England’s pursuit of a fourth U20 Championship with each fixture available to watch live on RugbyPass TV.
Mark Mapletoft said: “Over the last month, we’ve had a block of preparation that has helped our development and planning for the upcoming Championship.
“Recent fixtures against Coventry and Georgia have also afforded us the opportunity to integrate new faces into the fold, seven of which are set for their first competitive caps this summer. I’d like to congratulate Arthur, Cam, Ollie, Jack, Ben, Lucas and Angus and thank them and the squad as whole for their impressive work put in recently.
“Our pool stage fixtures are an exciting bill of opponents with varying styles and approaches to the game that will test our capabilities in a short turnaround between matchdays. The players, staff and I are excited to make the country proud.”
England Under-20 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship squad:
Forwards:
Joe Bailey, Finn Carnduff, Harvey Cuckson, Afolabi Fasogbon,
Arthur Green, James Halliwell, James Isaacs, Kane James, Junior Kpoku, Nathan Michelow, Cameron Miell, Jacob Oliver, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Henry Pollock, Billy Sela, Olamide Sodeke, Craig Wright.
Backs:
Ollie Allan, Josh Bellamy, Jack Bracken, Benjamin Coen, Toby Cousins, Lucas Friday, Angus Hall, Ioan Jones, Sean Kerr, Ben Redshaw, Oli Spencer, Ben Waghorn, Alex Wills
England U20 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship fixtures
England v Argentina
Date: June 29, 2024
Venue: Athlone Stadium
Kick-off: 14.00 (12.00 GMT, 13.00 UK & IRE time)
England v Fiji
Date: July 4, 2024
Venue: Athlone Stadium
Kick-off: 16.30 (14.30 GMT, 15.30 UK & IRE time)
South Africa v England
Date: July 9, 2024
Venue: Athlone Stadium
Kick-off: 19.00 (17.00 GMT, 18:00 UK & IRE time)