Northampton Saints Academy players Alex Day and Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi have been named on the replacements bench for England Under-20’s Junior World Championship opener against host nation France.
The pair both featured for the national team during this year’s U20 Six Nations, which England won on points difference from Wales, although have not been selected in the starting XV for the first match in Pool A.
Bristol’s Callum Braley is preferred at scrum half to Day, while prop Hobbs-Awoyemi misses out on the loosehead berth after London Wasps youngster Alec Hepburn was selected there.
Saints team mates Will Hooley and Tom Stephenson are also in the 28-man squad for this summer’s JWC, but have not been included in the matchday squad for the clash with the French in La Roche-Sur-Yon.
Day started in England’s 40-10 win over France at Worcester in the Six Nations back in February, but head coach Nick Walshe has warned not to read too much into their previous encounter.
“It’s a massive challenge playing against France, particularly in France, but it’s a challenge we’re relishing,†said Walshe.
“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€
After this match, England play South Africa on Sunday before rounding off the pool stages with a match against the USA a week on Thursday.
Article source: http://www.irb.com/jwc/news/newsid=2067152.html
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