England have named their 26-man squad for the Men’s 2025 U18 International Series in South Africa this August.
England will face Georgia, France, and hosts South Africa across the tour, across three venues; Paarl Boys High School, Boland Landbou, and Paarl Gimnasium, on the 8th, 12th, and 16th August.
Head Coach Jonathan Pendlebury and assistant coach Will Parkin will selected a specific captain for each matchday from a squad that contains twelve previously capped players at U18 level. Four of those come from the 2025 U18 Academy League champions, Northampton Saints, Jack Lewis, Aiden Reid, and Hugh Shields of Northampton School for Boys and Charlie Tamani of Finborough School.
The other capped players in the squad are Sale Sharks duo Charlie Bray, of Kirkham Grammar School, and Oliver Spencer, of Grammar School at Leeds, Harlequins and Trinity’s Henry Laidlow, Gloucester’s Junior Denny of Bloxham, Leicester Tigers’ Oscar Talbot, Rugby School, and James Townsend, Warwick School, Durham’s Ajay Edwards, of Newcastle Falcons, and Bath and Beechen Cliff star Declan Treacey, whose brother captained his England U18 year group in South Africa.
Elsewhere in the squad, Leicester Tigers provide four other players in addition to Talbot and Townsend, Brooksby Melton College’s Seva Batkora, Norwich’s Kwame Bekoe, and Oakham’s Marcus Southwell up front, plus a second Warwick School pupil in the squad alongside Townsend, Will Payton.
Northampton Saints’ representation goes beyond the four already mentioned, with Sonny Goode included among the backs, a second Bloxham School pupil in the squad. There is a second Kirkham Grammar School pupil in the squad too, Lawrence Ogbonnaya, one of three further Sale Sharks players beyond those mentioned, Stockport Grammar’s Jordan Ikeh and Sedbergh’s Will Bayston being the others.
Alongside Denny, Gloucester are represented by King’s Worcester’s Henry Horsfall, Saracens have two players in the squad, AJ Henry of Mill Hill, and Freddie Jones of Sutton Valence. Exeter Chiefs likewise have two players in the squad, Ollie Batson of Exeter School and Charlie Bosanko of Ivybridge Community College. Bristol Bears’ Casper Wheeler of Hartpury College is their sole representative.
The squad will meet at Loughborough University this Thursday for a two-day pre-tournament camp, with Leicester Tigers’ Fin Charles and Bath’s Max Hooper invited to train with the squad in preparation.
Speaking ahead of the camp, Head Coach Jonathan Pendlebury said: “Congratulations to all players and staff involved on the tour, the work behind-the-scenes across last season’s U17 and U18 camps has been incredibly rewarding so far.”
“This Series awards an opportunity to players to take a first step onto the pathway and develop themselves as rugby players and individuals. Their experiences will be critical in our endeavours to continue building a leading England team in years to come.”
“With a healthy proportion of our travelling squad already capped, their chemistry and leadership will be invaluable to our efforts and we’re determined to explore beyond our boundaries in the coming weeks.”
England Men’s 2025 U18 International Series Squad:
Forwards
Seva Batikora (Leicester Tigers, Brooksby Melton, uncapped)
Kwame Bekoe (Leicester Tigers, Norwich, uncapped)
Charlie Bray (Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar, 2 caps)
AJ Henry (Saracens, Mill Hill, uncapped)
Henry Horsfall (Gloucester, Kings Worcester, uncapped)
Jordan Ikeh (Sale Sharks, Stockport Grammar, uncapped)
Freddie Jones (Saracens, Sutton Valence, uncapped)
Henry Laidlow (Harlequins, Trinity, 4 caps)
Jack Lewis (Northampton Saints, Northampton School for Boys, 2 caps)
Lawrence Ogbonnaya (Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar, uncapped)
Aiden Reid (Northampton Saints, Northampton School for Boys, 1 cap)
Marcus Southwell (Leicester Tigers, Oakham, uncapped)
Oliver Spencer (Sale Sharks, Grammar School at Leeds, 4 caps)
Casper Wheeler (Bristol Bears, Hartpury College, uncapped)
Backs
Ollie Batson (Exeter Chiefs, Exeter, uncapped)
Will Bayston (Sale Sharks, Sedbergh, uncapped)
Charlie Bosanko (Exeter Chiefs, Ivybridge Community College, uncapped)
Junior Denny (Gloucester, Bloxham, 4 caps)
Ajay Edwards (Newcastle Falcons, Durham, 1 cap)
Sonny Goode (Northampton Saints, Bloxham, uncapped)
Will Payton (Leicester Tigers, Warwick, uncapped)
Hugh Shields (Northampton Saints, Northampton School for Boys, 3 caps)
Oscar Talbot (Leicester Tigers, Rugby, 4 caps)
Charlie Tamani (Northampton Saints, Finborough, 4 caps)
James Townsend (Leicester Tigers, Warwick, 3 caps)
Declan Treacey (Bath, Beechen Cliff, 4 caps)
England U18 Men’s Staff:
Jonathan Pendlebury – Head Coach
Will Parkin – Assistant Coach
Tim Newhouse – Analyst
Matt Lamin – Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach
Simon Webster – Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach
Steffan Griffin – Doctor
James Clegg – Physiotherapist
Carrie Exworth – Team Operations Manager
James Mackenzie – Psychologist
Ben Harper – Kit Manager
Mike Ashford – Coach Developer
England U18 Men’s 2025 International Series Fixtures:
Friday 8 August 2025 – 13:30 – Georgia vs England – Paarl Boys’ High School
Tuesday 12 August 2025 – 15:30 – England vs France – Boland Landbou
Saturday 16 August 2025 – 15:30 – South Africa vs England – Paarl Gimnasium
