England Men’s U20 Head Coach Mark Mapletoft has named his side to face Georgia this Friday (3pm KO) in the first of a 2 game tour of the country ahead of the forthcoming World Rugby U20 Championships.
Mapletoft and assistant coach Andy Titterrell will be aiming to get all 30 touring squad members on the field in this first encounter of the season against the Junior Lelos at the Avchala Stadium.
Leicester Tigers’ Finn Carnduff keeps the captaincy, with 12 of the starting 15 players involved in the U20 Six Nations title winning XV vs France at the Stade du Hameau back in March.
Saracens wing Angus Hall is the only uncapped player in the side, a remarkable achievement given that he is still a pupil at The Judd School in Tonbridge. He has already appeared for the U20s though in a warm up game, scoring two tries against Coventry RFC last month.
The bench includes 9 U20 Six Nations champions victors as well as uncapped players Cameron Miell, Ollie Allan and Charlie Myall of Leicester Tigers, George Timmins of Bath, and Saracens’ Jack Bracken who, like Hall, is still currently a pupil at school, Bracken is a part of the hugely impressive St Albans School 1st XV.
Ahead of the game, Mark Mapletoft said: “We’re looking forward to seeing what’s in store over the next week. The team have adapted and trained with clear focus points after a long trip to Tbilisi and are incredibly eager to take to the field.
“The coaches and I have been careful to manage the game time we’re giving to the players; we have an extensive matchday squad and we intend to utilise as many minutes and combinations across our group as possible.
“Whilst we’re acutely aware of what’s over the horizon, our full focus remains on putting our best foot forward ahead of what will be two very challenging tests against Georgia away from home.”
England U20 XV vs Georgia (Club & U20 Caps)
15 Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons, 5)
14 Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints, 6)
13 Oli Spencer (Newcastle Falcons, 5)
12 Sean Kerr (Harlequins, 4)
11 Angus Hall (Saracens and The Judd School, 0)
10 George Makepeace-Cubitt (Northampton Saints, 4)
9 Archie McParland (Northampton Saints, 5)
1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, 14)
2 Craig Wright (Northampton Saints, 5)
3 Billy Sela (Bath, 6)
4 Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs, 5)
5 Junior Kpoku (Racing 92, 4)
6 Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers, 15, captain)
7 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, 5)
8 Nathan Michelow (Saracens, 10)
Replacements:
16 James Isaacs (Saracens, 3)
17 Cameron Miell (Leicester Tigers, 0)
18 Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester, 11)
19 James Halliwell (Bristol Bears, 10)
20 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens, 4)
21 Harvey Cuckson (Bath, 2)
22 Kane James (Exeter Chiefs, 4)
23 George Timmins (Bath, 0)
24 Ollie Allan (Leicester Tigers, 0)
25 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins, 4)
26 Charlie Myall (Leicester Tigers, 0)
27 Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby, 4)
28 Jack Bracken (Saracens & St Albans School, 0)
29 Alex Wills (Sale Sharks, 7)
30 Ben Waghorn (Harlequins, 7)
