On Monday England U20 Head Coach Alan Dickens selected his 32-man England U20 Elite Player Squad, the group that will form the basis of his squads for the forthcoming U20 Six Nations campaign, which will see England play home games at Doncaster Knights’ Castle Park and Saracens’ StoneX Stadium.
They are set to open the campaign at the DAM Health Stadium in Edinburgh against Scotland on the 4thFebruary, before heading to Italy on the 11th ahead of those two home games, first against Wales at Castle Park on the 25th, then Ireland at StoneX on the 12th March before the campaign concludes away to France in Perpignan on Sunday 20th March.
The U20 EPS has already been covered many times over across various outlets since it was announced, but we have picked out a few players to keep a particularly close eye on in the coming months – six players that played their part in the 2021 U20 set up, and six players that are new to England U20 for 2022.
Six Old Heads
There were ten players named that played for England U20 last year, and in truth all ten are worth keeping an eye on Seb Atkinson, Deago Bailey, Tom Litchfield, and John Stewart all just miss out but have all got huge potential and have already made some pretty significant strides at first team level with their clubs.
Fin Baxter (Harlequins, ex Wellington College) – Prop
Baxter captained Wellington College and England U18 and was held back from much of the U20 campaign last year as Harlequins required him for their title run in, he came in at the end though, playing the last game of England’s title winning U20 Six Nations campaign (which was delayed until June) and bagging the man of the match award in the process. That award was a measure of the quality of the young prop, who has switched from tighthead to loosehead since school and is thriving. An absolute star of the future.
Lucas Brooke (London Irish, ex Wellington College) – Back Row
Brooke’s surname and lineage might garner plenty of headlines, but so too should his play. He came into the U20 setup last year and took to it like a duck to water with some eye-catching displays. The London Irish youngster can play across the back row and even played hooker at times during his time at Wellington College. One of an incredible three Wellington College old boys in the forward back, alongside Baxter and his Harlequins colleague Will Hobson.
Tom Carr-Smith (Bath, ex Sherborne) – Scrum Half
Carr-Smith’s is one that we are really interested to see as the senior scrum half in the group. Last year his competition was fierce, with Raffi Quirke, who ended the year being capped for the England senior team, and Jack van Poortvliet, who skippered the U20s and collected the Player of the Tournament award at the U20 Six Nations. Carr-Smith still made appearances for the U20s but now is his time to shine, and while he might not yet have the pedigree of the other two, the experience of having challenged them makes him one that we are so excited to see.
Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers, ex Rugby) – Back Row
Ilione is a player that we have long championed after some superb performances as a schoolboy for Rugby School, Leicester Tigers U18, and England U18. Last year he broke into the U20s, but this year is the year for him to really start making big strides. Head Boy as a school boy and now studying medicine, Ilione has so many strings to his bow but as a dynamic loose forward is where we are itching to see his enormous potential become realised.
Ewan Richards (Bath, ex Millfield) – Lock
The former Millfield star is one of the most experienced players in the squad, not just in terms of U20 international experience, but also senior club first teams experience too. Stuart Hooper has given Richards plenty of game time at Bath and he has been thriving, and with Hooper as a former stalwart lock guiding him, and England’s Charlie Ewels playing alongside him, little wonder. Given all of that, it would be no great surprise were Richards to be handed the captaincy through some of the upcoming campaign.
Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors, ex Warwick) – Fly Half
So much has already been said about Smith, as Worcester Warriors’ youngest ever starter and the fulcrum of last year’s England U20 backline despite stiff competition from likes of Charlie Atkinson, Dan Lancaster, Tommy Matthews, and Orlando Bailey for the ten shirt. In winning the battle for that shirt he showed his class last year and it seems fair to expect even more from him this year, such is his dazzling potential. His battle with Jamie Benson and Louie Johnson ought to be brilliant though, those two are also such bright talents.
Six Fresh Faces
In truth, all 22 of the new faces in this England U20 squad are worth keeping an eye on and almost all will go on to have a strong professional career, among them the likes of Kofi Cripps, Mark Dormer, and Ollie Fletcher are extremely exciting to us, Iwan Stephens has already done some incredible things at Newcastle Falcons, and Louie Johnson looks set to as well – indeed he has already done so against England U20 for Newcastle Falcons’ U23s last year. The six below though are six players that we are especially excited about.
Henry Arundell (London Irish, ex Harrow) – Back Three
Arundell is an incredibly exciting player and was due to make his London Irish debut in the Premiership Cup a few days ago against Bath before Covid got in the way of that back. Nevertheless, Arundell’s chance will absolutely come and when it does he has all the potential to go a very long way. Until then, he could thrill and delight in the white shirt this spring.
Jamie Benson (Harlequins, ex Hampton) – Fly Half
In his final year at Hampton we named Benson the player about whose future we were most excited from the class of 2020/21 school leavers, such has been the quality of his play. His battle for the fly half shirt with Johnson and Smith is going to be fascinating, but it is his learning from another Smith, club colleague Marcus, that makes Benson even more exciting than ever before. Between Marcus Smith and Jamie Benson, Harlequins could end up with two of the top fly halves in the country. It is not just on the field that Benson stars either, he is also studying at Cambridge, some have it all!
Jamie Benson: World Schools XV
Olly Hartley (Wasps, ex Whitgift) – Centre
Olly Hartley scored on his Wasps debut in November in a performance that more than lived up to the pre-match billing from his Head Coach, Lee Blackett. After a tricky final year at school, Hartley has excelled and his combination of strong skills and a big bruising frame make him an incredibly excited asset for this England U20 side. With fly halves such as Smith, Benson, and Johnson inside him, and a potential combination with another young talent in the centres, such as Will Joseph, Hartley could be a part of a brilliant midfield for this young England side.
Will Joseph (London Irish, ex Millfield) – Centre
Another cog in that potentially thrilling England U20 midfield, the former Millfield star is another with a famous surname and in this case he is undeniably similar to his famous relative, his brother, Jonathan Joseph. His game is so similar to his brother’s, though perhaps with even more skills in some departments – he played fly half for Millfield for much of his final year at the school. He has a handful of senior appearances for London Irish under his belt already, and is surely going to be one of the stars of this England U20 campaign.
Guy Pepper (Newcastle Falcons, ex Barnard Castle) – Back Row
A true openside, Pepper is an incredibly exciting player. He excelled both in 15s and on the 7s field for Barnard Castle and it was little wonder that he ended up being profiled by us during the height of covid – he was a player we were simply gutted to see miss out on his final year in the blue and brown of Barnard Castle. What seems certain though is that Newcastle Falcons and England U20 are definitely not going to be miss out on what his superb back rower has to offer and the other five sides in this forthcoming U20 Six Nations campaign are going to know an awful lot about him by the end.
Charlie Rice (Bristol Bears, ex SGS Filton College) – Lock
There was huge excitement in the local Bristol news when Charlie Rice was called in to train against England during the Autumn Nations Series, the call went out for a lock and Pat Lam was more than happy to nominate the raw but exciting Rice for the opportunity. The hope now will be that he can use what was learned from that opportunity when he pulls on the white of the U20s this spring and become one of the key figures in this enormously exciting young forward pack.
The Squad
Of course there are twenty other players in the squad, including Seb Atkinson, Deago Bailey, Tom Litchfield, and John Stewart, who all featured last year and will be incredible important again this year.
In the forward pack look out for young props Mark Dormer, Robin Hardwick, Will Hobson, and Mike Summerfield, all in their first year in the U20 setup, as well as Baxter. Dormer’s Newcastle Falcons colleague Ollie Fletcher is another option at hooker, and the son of former England age-grade guru John Fletcher, with John Stewart the other option.
The young second row contingent sees Wasps Alfie Bell, Northampton Saints’ Tom Lockett, and Saracens’ Alex Wardell aiming to challenge Richards and Rice, while the back row options are astonishing as competing with Brooke, Ilione, and Pepper are three incredible talents, Wasps’ Kofi Cripps, a schoolmate of Ilione’s at Rugby, Northampton Saints’ Geordie Irvine, who is talked of as a future captain, and Saracens’ superb number 8 Toby Knight. England are going to be anything but short in the back row.
In the backs Matty Jones of Gloucester will compete at scrum half with Carr-Smith, while the exciting battle at fly half will include Newcastle Falcons’ former Sedbergh star Louie Johnson alongside Jamie Benson and Fin Smith.
Joining Will Joseph and Olly Hartley as centre options are the aforementioned Seb Atkinson, of 2021 experience, and Northampton Saints’ Ethan Grayson, who finds his home at 12 rather than the fly half slot occupied by his father and brother, though he can also do a job at ten as well as at 13 and on the wing. In the back three Newcastle Falcons flyer Iwan Stephens offers an option, as does George Hendy of Northampton Saints, alongside Henry Arundell and one of last year’s stars, Tom Litchfield.
The squad is led by Head Coach Alan Dickens, alongside forwards coach Andy Titterrell, and defence coach Jordan Turner-Hall, and Dickens had this to say of his squad:
“Selection for the squad has been based on a combination of things: the previous regional camps we’ve held, the work we do with the club academies and coaches, plus our knowledge of the players within the pathway. The communication and collaboration throughout the pathway are excellent and it’s ensuring we identify talented players and get out to see them play early. I’d like to thank all the Premiership clubs, the academies, the coaches and Premiership Rugby for their support. It’s been a big team effort.”
“It’s great to have Jordan Turner-Hall join the U20s coaching team as part of our attached coaching programme. He is a young and exciting coach who achieved a lot in his playing career. His current role at Harlequins is all about preparing academy players to transition to the senior squad and that will be hugely valuable to our players who are looking to make the same progression within the England pathway.”
“The squad and coaching team are looking forward to two four-day camps and a training game against Oxford University in the first half of January, which is all part of our preparation for the Six Nations and our first game against Scotland.”
England men U20s Elite Player Squad – 2022
Forwards
Fin Baxter (Harlequins) – Prop
Alfie Bell (Wasps) – Lock
Lucas Brooke (London Irish) – Back Row
Kofi Cripps (Wasps) – Back Row
Mark Dormer (Newcastle Falcons) – Prop
Ollie Fletcher (Newcastle Falcons) – Hooker
Robin Hardwick (Wasps) – Prop
Will Hobson (Harlequins) – Prop
Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers) – Back Row
Geordie Irvine (Northampton Saints) – Back Row
Tom Lockett (Northampton Saints) – Lock
Toby Knight (Saracens) – Back Row
Guy Pepper (Newcastle Falcons) – Back Row
Charlie Rice (Bristol Bears) – Lock
Ewan Richards (Bath) – Lock
John Stewart (Bath) – Hooker
Mike Summerfield (London Irish) – Prop
Alex Wardell (Saracens) – Lock
Backs
Henry Arundell (London Irish) – Back Three
Seb Atkinson (Worcester Warriors) – Centre
Deago Bailey (Bristol Bears) – Wing
Jamie Benson (Harlequins) – Fly Half
Tom Carr-Smith (Bath) – Scrum Half
Ethan Grayson (Northampton Saints) – Centre
Olly Hartley (Wasps) – Centre
George Hendy (Northampton Saints) – Full Back
Matty Jones (Gloucester) – Scrum Half
Louie Johnson (Newcastle Falcons) – Fly Half
Will Joseph (London Irish) – Centre
Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints) – Back Three
Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors) – Fly Half
Iwan Stephens (Newcastle Falcons) – Wing
