Nick Walshe has named his England U20s side to face France in their opening game of the Junior World Championship in France tomorrow.
Harlequins No. 8 Jack Clifford will captain the team in La Roche-sur-Yon with Bath’s David Sisi and Saracens’ Matt Hankin alongside him in the back-row.
Hankin will make his U20s debut for the occasion from openside and so is replacement prop Tom Smallbone.
2012 JWC veterans Henry Slade and Sam Hill from Exeter will form an experienced 10-12 combination while highly-rated Luke Cowan-Dickie will be in the thick of things from hooker.
England go into the tournament as the Six Nations champions but, after a disappointing seventh place in South Africa last year, the pressure will be on to come out a very competitive group which also include reigning champions South Africa and the USA to reach the semi-finals.
The clash against the host will be live on SkySports 3 from from 5.30pm.
Walshe said: “It’s a massive challenge playing against France, particularly in France, but it’s a challenge that we’re relishing. We obviously played them in the Six Nations and put in a good performance, but this is a different game – we won’t be complacent, we’ll be treating them with the respect they deserve.
“The lads have trained well for the first couple of days – they’re looking good, but to be honest they just want to get out there and play.â€
England U20s: Ollie Devoto (Bath Rugby); Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Harry Sloane (Harlequins), Sam Hill (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Howard (Worcester Warriors); Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Callum Braley (Bristol Rugby); Alec Hepburn (London Wasps), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), Scott Wilson (Newcastle Falcons); Elliott Stooke (Gloucester Rugby), Dominic Barrow (Leeds Carnegie); David Sisi (Bath Rugby), Matt Hankin (Saracens), Jack Clifford (Harlequins, Capt.).
Replacements: Nathan Morris (London Wasps), Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Northampton Saints), Tom Smallbone (London Irish), Tom Price (Leicester Tigers), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby), Alex Day (Northampton Saints), Henry Purdy (Leicester Tigers), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs).
Read our preview from Nick Walshe tomorrow on our website.
Tagged England u20
England U20 name team for JWC opener
No comments:
Post a Comment