England Under 18’s Head Coach, John Fletcher, has announced his starting fifteen to play Wales on Sunday at Swansea RFC, with nine members of the 23 that beat Scotland last week involved again.
The announcement caps a brilliant week for Hampton School prop Alex Lundberg, who has also been named on the bench for the Under 20’s side to play Italy tomorrow.
Lundberg received the news on his way to Broadstreet RFC last week ahead of his school’s Daily Mail Cup semi final against Dulwich College, a game in which they narrowly lost 11-5 but did themselves much credit.
Another player involved in the Daily Mail semi finals weekend was Yarm School’s winger Zach Kibirige. Kibirige played at inside centre for Yarm on Sunday as they booked their place in the Plate final thanks to a match winning try and man of the match performance from Kibirige.
Elsewhere in the England Under 18 side, a few familiar faces return, including Oundle’s Sam Olver at fly half and Tom Ellis of Millfield School returns to join Charlie Ewels in the second row.
Ewels’ schoolmate Tom Woolstencroft is on the bench as the replacement hooker, Woolstencroft has switched between the back and front rows this season but looks to be cementing his place as a hooker now.
The seventeen point hero of last weekend’s 57-13 victory over Scotland, Wellington College’s Brett Herron, will start this game from the bench alongside double try scorer last weekend, Nick Tompkins.
The England U18 Clubs & Schools squad has also been named today; they will be playing the Bedford Blues Academy on Sunday at the Surrey Sports Park.
The game serves as a warm up ahead of their fixture against Ireland’s Club & Schools U18’s at the end of the month.
A few names worth keeping an eye on are Felsted School’s Charlie Kingham, whose side meet Yarm in the Daily Mail Vase final at Twickenham on the 23rd March, Cranleigh’s Charlie Piper, Prince Henry’s Grammar School’s Dan Preston-Routledge, Woodhouse Grove’s Jack Maplesden and Rugby School’s Ben Pointon, though many others are likely to throw their hands up over the next few weeks in what is an exciting looking squad.
England Under 18 squad vs Wales:
15 Tom Hudson (Leicester Tigers & Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)
14 Zach Kibirige (Newcastle Falcons & Yarm School)
13 Nick Carpenter (Bristol Rugby & Filton College)
12 David Buck (Bath Rugby & Sherborne)
11 Nathan Earle (Saracens & Oaklands College)
10 Sam Olver (Northampton Saints & Oundle School)
9 Stuart Townsend (Exeter Chiefs & Ivybridge College); 1 Alex Lundberg (London Wasps & Hampton School)
2 Cameron Neild (Sale Sharks & Manchester Grammar)
3 Paul Hill (Leeds Carnegie & Prince Henry’s Grammar)
4 Tom Ellis (Bath Rugby & Millfield School)
5 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby & Bryanston School)
6 Lewis Ludlow (Gloucester Rugby & Hartpury College)
7 Will Owen (Leicester Tigers & Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)
8 Hayden Stringer (Saracens & Oaklands College).
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft (Bath Rugby & Bryanston School)
17 Luke Chapman (Exeter Chiefs & Truro College)
18 Neale Farthing (Leicester Tigers & Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)
19 Jordan Onjoaife (Northampton Saints & Stowe School)
20 James Chisholm (Harlequins & Brighton College)
21 George Tressider (Leicester Tigers & Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)
22 Brett Herron (London Irish & Wellington College)
23 Nick Tompkins (Saracens & Oaklands College)
England Under 18 Clubs & Schools squad:
Forwards:
Thomas Duggan (Blackheath RFC, Dartford Grammar School)
Finlay Hillicks (Harlequins, College of Richard Collyer)
Ollie Hodgson (Middlesbrough, Gosforth Academy, Newcastle Falcons)
Dan Hyam (Mellish RFC, Arnold Hill Academy, Nottingham RFC)
Charlie Kingham (Saracens, Felsted School)
Simon Linsell (Gloucester Rugby, Marling School)
Harry McCartney (London Wasps AASE, The Henley College)
Charlie Piper (Harlequins, Cranleigh School)
Dan Preston-Routledge (Leeds Carnegie, Prince Henry’s Grammar School)
Sam Smith (Worcester Warriors, Old Swinford Hospital) 
Alistair Wade (Camberley RFC, Godalming College)
Aston Whitlow (Alnwick RFC, Gosforth Academy, Newcastle Falcons)
Backs:
Sean Brown (Darlington Mowden Park, Newcastle Falcons) 
Colin Dickson (Worcester Warriors, Ellesmere College) 
Oliver Fewtrell (Derby RFC, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Leicester Tigers EPDG)
Jordan Gott (London Irish, St. Pauls Catholic College)
Lewis Jones (Dunstable RFC, Moulton College, Northampton Saints)
Jack Maplesden (Saracens, Woodhouse Grove) 
Aaron Morris (Bedford Blues, Biddenham Upper School) 
Tom Morton (Sale Sharks, Stockport Grammar School)
Tom Penny (Alnwick RFC, Newcastle RGS, Newcastle Falcons)
Ben Pointon (Northampton Saints, Rugby School)
