England U20 Men

11 Jan 2024 | 4 min |

England U20 Men's team to face Oxford University

Finn Carnduff will captain the side in their final warm-up game ahead of the U20 Six Nations Championship.

Tickets to Saturday's game, hosted by Oxford University, can be purchased here

Iffley Road hosted its biggest crowd in a decade in last year’s meeting of the sides on an afternoon where the U20 Men emerged 54-31 victors.

Leicester's Carnduff succeeds Nathan Michelow’s captaincy for the weekend and starts as blindside flanker. The experienced youngster, who boasts 10 U20 caps for his country, leads the team after adding three more Premiership Rugby Cup appearances to his total of nine overall for his hometown club this season. 

Carnduff is one of seven previously-capped members of the travelling squad; Toby Cousins, Ben Waghorn, Craig Wright and Zach Carr, as well as replacement forward James Halliwell and Joe Bailey. 

Jack Bennett links back up with the squad ahead of Saturday’s trip and joins Bath Rugby clubmate Scott Kirk in the pack’s finishers; Kirk continuing as five non-EPS members in the squad’s makeup alongside scrum halves Ben Douglas and Max Blinkhorn, lock Junior Kpoku and centre Ollie Spencer. 

England U20 Men’s head coach Mark Mapletoft said: “There were a lot of positive spells and contributions from the lads against a tough Bath United side that have given us plenty of encouragement heading into Oxford and then Italy. 

“We’re looking to really gel this squad away from the pitch and build momentum on it – we have an eager group of boys here that are keen to showcase their talents across a full 80 minutes. 

“Rest assured, we as a group have put in a great deal of work at Bisham this past week aiming to match Oxford, who provided a stern test last year ahead of the Six Nations.” 

A ticket bundle for England U20 Men’s home U20 Six Nations fixtures at the Rec against Wales and Ireland can be purchased here

England U20 Men's side to Face Oxford University

15 Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby) 

14 Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints) * 

13 Ben Waghorn (Harlequins) * 

12 Sean Kerr (Harlequins) 

11 Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons) 

10 Rory Taylor (Gloucester Rugby) 

9 Ben Douglas (Newcastle Falcons) 

1 Cameron Miell (Leicester Tigers) 

2 Craig Wright (Northampton Saints) * 

3 Billy Sela (Bath Rugby)  

4 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens) 

5 Junior Kpoku (Racing 92)  

6 Finn Carnduff (C) (Leicester Tigers) * 

7 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints) 

8 Zach Carr (Harlequins) * 

Replacements 

16 Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons) 

17 Scott Kirk (Bath Rugby) 

18 James Halliwell (Bristol Bears) * 

19 Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs) * 

20 Jack Bennett (Bath Rugby) 

21 Max Blinkhorn (Nottingham University) 

22 Kane James (Exeter Chiefs) 

23 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins)  

24 Malelili Satala (Leicester Tigers) 

25 Ollie Spencer (Newcastle Falcons) 

*denotes a player previously capped at U20 level