England have named their 12-man squad for the Rugby 7s competition at this year’s Commonwealth Youth Games.
The games take place from the 19th to the 23rd July in the Bahamas, and the young 7s group will be led by England 7s Academy Coach, Warram Abrahams.
There are a number of familiar faces to readers of Fifteen Rugby in the squad, including Oliver Sleightholme, the son of former England winger Jon, and Gloucester’s rising star Mason Tonks.
Sam Maunder will be joining them as he seeks to emulate his older brother Jack, who won his first caps for England in their recent tour of Argentina.
Another player with a well known surname is Manu Vunipola, the Harrow School fly half is a cousin of two of England’s finest, Billy and Mako. He is joined in the squad by Harrow schoolmate, Harry Barlow, while St John’s Leatherhead’s Jack Musk is also in the squad.
Other familiar names are Connor Doherty and Thomas Fawcett, alongside Cameron Kelemeti and Thomas Marshall, with England 7s Academy players Lailand Gordon and Fergus Guiry completing the squad.
Gordon and Guiry will be lining up for England 7s at the next leg of the Rugby Europe 7s Grand Priz Series, which will take place in Clermont-Ferrand this weekend.
They are joined by another from the Commonwealth Youth Games squad, Mason Tonks, along with Will Wilson, the former Wellington College captain and one of the stars of the last Commonwealth Youth games tournament.
England 7s star Callum Sirker is also in the squad for the tournament in Clermont-Ferrand, with Will Edwards captaining, and former school stars such as Jordan Ainslie, Charlie Kingham, Tom Ffitch, and Ryaln Olowofela joining him.
The squad take on France, Poland, and Russia in the group stages, which will be live streamed on www.rugbyeurope.tv
England Commonwealth Youth Games 7s Squad:
Harry Barlow
Connor Doherty
Thomas Fawcett
Lailand Gordon
Fergus Guiry
Cameron Kelemeti
Thomas Marshall
Samuel Maunder
Jack Musk
Oliver Sleightholme
JJ Tonks
Manu Vunipola
Rugby Europe 7s Grand Prix Series Squad:
Will Edwards (c)
Will Wilson
Mason Tonks
Jordan Ainslie
Charlie Kingham
Fergus Guiry
Yaree Fantini
Callum Sirker
Lailand Gordon
Tom Ffitch
Ryan Olowofela
George Chatterton