The England U18 squad for the 2018 season has been named, along with their first six fixtures of the campaign.
The 42-man squad will face France, Scotland, and Wales in March ahead of the Six Nations Festival in Wales, which will see them face Scotland, Italy, and France. The U17 squad, announced last week, will face Scotland on the 22nd April in Newcastle.
Six of the squad featured in the squad that travelled for the annual England U18 tour of South Africa back in August. Cameron Redpath was among them, the Sedbergh man has since signed a long term deal with Sale Sharks, made a couple of appearances for their senior side, and played for England U20, marking him as one of the stars of this squad.
Joining him from that squad that toured in the summer are Bristol Grammar School’s Will Capon, who has been captaining Bristol U18, Exeter College’s Richard Capstick, Beechen Cliff and Bath star Tom de Glanville, son of former England captain Phil, Wellington College’s Sam Spink, who has appeared for the Wasps 1st XV, and Redpath’s fellow Sale Sharks teammate, Kieran Wilkinson of Kirkham Grammar School.
He is one of four Kirkham Grammar School pupils, with Sam Dugdale, Teddy Leatherbarrow, and Connor Doherty joining him, all of whom play for Sale Sharks, who have an impressive 8 players in the squad.
Sedbergh are one of the biggest providers in the squad, with five. Among the Sale Sharks contingent they are represented by Bevan Rodd, Rouban Birch, and Redpath, while Newcastle Falcons’ Josh Hodge and Rob Farrar, are also from Sedbergh.
Sale have the most players in the squad with 8. Joining the four Kirkham and three Sedbergh players is Sandbach’s Cal Ford.
No other schools have more than one player in the squad, though a few of the AASE College’s do. Hartpury College have four players in the squad, JJ Tonks, Ollie Adkins, Jack Reeves, and Jacob Morris, all of whom are in the Gloucester squad.
The Gloucester contingent is the second largest, with seven players, Dean Close’s George Barton, St Peter’s Reece Dunn, and Jack Bartlett complete their representatives alongside the Hartpury quartet.
Exeter College have three players in the squad, Rus Tuima, Alfie Petch, and Richard Capstick, and they are joined by Blundell’s Sam Maunder to complete the four Exeter Chiefs representatives.
Sedbergh’s two Newcastle Falcons are just two of the six players representing the North Eastern side, with Gosforth Academy duo Morgan Passman and Tom Marshall joining them, alongside Kirkbie Kendall’s Will Montgomery and Durham’s Cameron Kelemeti.
Beechen Cliff are the only other school or AASE College with two players, Tom Jeanes joins Tom De Glanville, and they are also Bath’s only two players in the squad.
Every one of the fourteen Professional Academies are represented in the squad, bar Yorkshire Carnegie. Harlequins and London Irish have just one player each, Cranleigh’s Harry Barlow and Peter Symonds’ Ben Donnell.
Wasps are well represented, three players from their Academy are in the squad, with Henley College’s Will Simmonds and Bloxham star Alfie Barbeary, who captains their U18 side, joining Spink in the squad.
The latest of the Vunipola clan, Harrow’s Manu, is one of two Saracens players in the squad, Haileybury’s Kapeli Pifeleti being the other. Northampton Saints also have two players in the squad, Ollie Sleightholme of Northampton School for Boys, and Samson Ma’asi of St Joseph’s College.
Joining Capon in representing Bristol is SGS Filton College’s Blake Boyland. The only remaining AASE player in the squad is Brooksby Melton College’s George Martin, who is one of two Leicester Tigers in the squad, Oakham’s Cameron Jordan being the other. Worcester Warriors, meanwhile, are represented by Solihull’s Lewis Holsey, and Bromsgrove’s Ollie Lawrence, one of the many impressive players in the squad to have played for his club’s 1st XV.
Speaking to www.englandrugby.com ahead of the U18 campaign, head coach John Fletcher said:
“We’ve coached and assessed players in our pre-Christmas camps as well as watching the seven rounds of U18 academy games, and have come up with group of exciting young players, along with their regional academies we want to support them with their individual development and expose them to an international environment, which we will be doing over the next six games.”
“Everyone will get an opportunity to play a significant role in the games.
“This is the start of their international journey and we want them to go out and have fun and express themselves.”
“The CARDS (Creativity, Awareness, Resilience, Decision making and Self-organising) are the priority skills of the U18 programme. We feel they are the most important skills for this stage in their development so they will be the centre of everything we do on and off the pitch. It’s great to see so many of last year’s group involved with England U20s, however, there always needs to be an opportunity for those that are developing later to also be given a chance.”
England U18 2018 Squad:
Forwards:
Ollie Adkins, Gloucester Rugby, Hartpury College
Alfie Barbeary, Wasps, Bloxham School
Jack Bartlett, Gloucester Rugby
Rouban Birch, Sale Sharks, Sedbergh School
Will Capon, Bristol Rugby, Bristol Grammar School
Richard Capstick, Exeter Chiefs, Exeter College
Ben Donnell, London Irish, Peter Symonds College
Sam Dugdale, Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar School
Rob Farrar, Newcastle Falcons, Sedbergh School
Cal Ford, Sale Sharks, Sandbach School
Lewis Holsey, Worcester Warriors, Solihull School
Tom Jeanes, Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff School
Cameron Jordan, Leicester Tigers, Oakham School
Ted Leatherbarrow, Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar School
Samson Ma’asi, Northampton Saints, St Josephs
Tom Marshall, Newcastle Falcons, Gosforth Academy
George Martin, Leicester Tigers, Brooksby Melton College
Will Montgomery, Newcastle Falcons, Kirkbie Kendal School
Alfie Petch, Exeter Chiefs, Exeter College
Kapeli Pifeleti, Saracens, Haileybury School
Bevan Rodd, Sale Sharks, Sedbergh School
JJ Tonks, Gloucester Rugby, Hartpury College
Rus Tuima, Exeter Chiefs, Exeter College
Backs
Harry Barlow, Harlequins, Cranleigh School
George Barton, Gloucester Rugby, Dean Close School
Tom de Glanville, Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff School
Connor Doherty, Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar School
Reece Dunn, Gloucester Rugby, St Peter’s High School
Josh Hodge, Newcastle Falcons, Sedbergh School
Cameron Kelemeti, Newcastle Falcons, Durham School
Ollie Lawrence, Worcester Warriors, Bromsgrove School
Jacob Morris, Gloucester Rugby, Hartpury College
Morgan Passman, Newcastle Falcons, Gosforth Academy
Sam Maunder, Exeter Chiefs, Blundell’s School
Blake Boyland, Bristol Rugby, Filton College
Cameron Redpath, Sale Sharks, Sedbergh School
Jack Reeves, Gloucester Rugby, Hartpury College
Will Simonds, Wasps, The Henley College
Ollie Sleightholme, Northampton Saints, Northampton School for Boys
Sam Spink, Wasps, Wellington College
Manu Vunipola, Saracens, Harrow School
Kieran Wilkinson, Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar School
England U18 Fixtures:
France U18 v England U18 – 3rd March, 2pm (GMT), Digne-les-Bains
Scotland U18 v England U18 – 18th March, 12pm, Stirling County RFC
Wales U18 v England U18 – 25th March, 4.15pm, Sardis Road, Ponypridd
Scotland U18 v England U18 – 31st March, Ystrad Mynach (Six Nations Festival)
Italy U18 v England U18 – 4th April, Cardiff Arms Park (Six Nations Festival)
France U18 v England U18 – 8th April, Cardiff Arms Park (Six Nations Festival)
Leave a Response