England have named their side for Friday evening’s Men’s U19 fixture against Italy U19 at Bedford Blues, kicking off at 7.45pm.
England Men’s U20 Head Coach Alan Dickens takes charge of the side, who faced Wales in a friendly in Bristol last weekend, claiming a 60-14 victory. The team welcome Italy on Friday having travelled to Verona to take them on last year, winning 41-20.
There are four U18 players in the extended 25-man squad for the weekend, all four are backs, Sedbergh’s Ben Redshaw, Whitgift’s Sean Kerr, Trinity’s Josh Bellamy, and Stowe’s Archie McParland. McParland, Bellamy, and Redshaw all featured in the recent U18 Six Nations Festival, Kerr was too old, with Redshaw captaining the U18 side in two of their three games in the competition.
Redshaw and Kerr start at full back and inside centre respectively, the rest of the squad are all U19s, including all of the forward pack.
Sale Sharks’ former AKS Lytham openside Tristan Woodman will captain the side, with Harlequins’ former Dulwich College number 8 Zach Carr alongside him with former Sutton Valence star Nathan Michelow, who recently played for Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership.
In the second row is former Exeter College star Joe Bailey, last year’s Exeter Chiefs Academy skipper, and former Ellesmere College man Harvey Cuckson, who moved from Worcester Warriors to Bath this season after the former’s demise.
Loosehead Asher Opoku-Fordjour made a similar move, the City of Oxford College leaver joining Sale Sharks after the collapse of Wasps. Alongside him in the front row are Northampton Saints’ former Feslted hooker Craig Wright and London Irish’s ex Bishop Wand tighthead Afolabi Fasogbon.
In the backs, alongside Redshaw in the back three are Saracens’ Tobias Elliott, a former Berkhamsted star, and Sale Shark’s Alex Wills, another of those who had to switch from Worcester having not long left Hartpury College.
Next to Kerr in the centres is Northampton Saints’ Toby Thame, the Radley College leaver, while in the half backs Ollie Allan, another ex Bishop Wand man at London Irish, at scrum half, and Bath’s Millfield leaver Sam Harris at fly half having starred at full back through the U20 Six Nations.
On the bench McParland and Bellamy are joined in the backs replacement ranks by Bellamy’s Harlequins colleague Ludo Kolade, formerly of King’s Canterbury, and London Irish’s George Makepeace-Cubitt, the Henley College leaver.
There are three Bristol Bears among the forward replacements, ex Collegiate duo James Halliwell and Patrick Pearce, and Clifton College leaver Aaron Tull. There is also a third Harlequin on the bench in former Brighton College second row Harry Browne.
James Isaac, a former schoolmate at Berkhamsted of Elliott’s and a current Saracens teammate, is the replacement hooker, while the replacement loosehead is Scott Kirk, whom Bath brought across from South African school Michaelhouse, who recently won the Rugby School U18 International 7s.
Speaking ahead of the game, Alan Dickens said: “This is our second clash in as many weeks, after our match against Wales last week in Bristol. It was a pleasing result for us but even better was seeing these players develop and perform at the international level in their own age group.
“We have a number of players who were either part of the team that faced Italy in the Under-20 Six Nations or played in this same fixture last year at Verona. There are shared learnings from those experiences with the group.
“Tonight’s match against the Azzurri is another opportunity and a challenge. They take to the pitch with passion, play expansive rugby with a strong set piece and maul focus, and their players gel well having played a lot of rugby together.”
England U19 XV to play Italy:
15 Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons & Sedbergh)
14 Alex Wills (Sale Sharks & ex Hartpury College)
13 Toby Thame (Northampton Saints & ex Radley College)
12 Sean Kerr (Harlequins & Whitgift)
11 Tobias Elliott (Saracens & ex Berkhamsted)
10 Sam Harris (Bath & ex Millfield)
9 Ollie Allan (London Irish & ex Bishop Wand)
1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks & ex City of Oxford College)
2 Craig Wright (Northampton Saints & ex Felsted)
3 Afolabi Fasogbon (London Irish & ex Bishop Wand)
4 Harvey Cuckson (Bath & ex Ellesmere College)
5 Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs & ex Exeter College)
6 Nathan Michelow (Saracens & ex Sutton Valence)
7 Tristan Woodman (Sale Sharks & ex AKS Lytham, captain)
8 Zach Carr (Harlequins & ex Dulwich College)
Replacements:
16 James Isaacs (Saracens & ex Berkhamsted)
17 Scott Kirk (Bath & ex Michaelhouse)
18 James Halliwell (Bristol Bears & ex Collegiate)
19 Harry Browne (Harlequins & ex Brighton College)
20 Patrick Pearce (Bristol Bears & ex Collegiate)
21 Archie McParland (Northampton Saints & Stowe)
22 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins & Trinity)
23 Ludo Kolade (Harlequins & ex King’s Canterbury)
24 George Makepeace-Cubitt (London Irish & ex Henley College)
25 Aaron Tull (Bristol Bears & ex Clifton College)