England U20 side to face Ireland in World Championship opener
England U20 Men's head coach Mark Mapletoft has named his side to face Ireland in their opening World Championship fixture.
Leicester Tigers lock Lewis Chessum captains the side which features four players who will earn their first England U20 caps.
- ITV will broadcast highlights from each day
- 10 England Stars who played in the U20 World Championships
Date | Saturday 24 June |
Venue | Paarl Gymnasium, South Africa |
Coverage | World Rugby |
Kick off | 12:30 BST |
Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Afolabi Fasogbon are the starting props, with Finn Theobald-Thomas completing the front row at hooker.
Harvey Cuckson is set to make his debut when he joins the skipper in the second row, while the back row selection sees Finn Carnduff (blind-side flanker), Greg Fisilau (open-side flanker) and Chandler Cunningham-South (No. 8) combine.
![AltText](https://rfu.widen.net/content/739b79de-7909-417b-9410-ee639da52ff3/web/team_huddle_rugby_training.png)
Charlie Bracken is named at scrum half, starting alongside Connor Slevin who will steer the backline on his debut. Joseph Woodward and Rekeiti Ma'asi White pair up in the midfield, continuing their partnership from this year's U20 Six Nations tournament. In the back three, Joe Jenkins and Tobias Elliott are the wingers and Sam Harris lines up at full back.
Nathan Jibulu, Archie McArthur, James Halliwell, Nathan Michelow, Tristan Woodman, Nye Thomas, Louie Johnson and Jacob Cusick are the replacements.
The match against Ireland is the first of England’s three pool matches, with a full playing schedule is available on the World Rugby website.
Views from camp
Mark Mapletoft: “Firstly, congratulations to all players selected to represent their country in our first game of the World Rugby U20 Championship. For many players this tournament will be the highlight of their rugby journeys so far, providing the opportunity for them to develop in an environment that emulates the challenges that hopefully awaits in the senior international arena in future years.
“We’ve had a good week of preparation since landing in Cape Town last week and the players are ready for the challenge Ireland presents. They were the dominant team in this year’s U20 Six Nations tournament, and we’re relishing the chance to take them head on to open our campaign.”
Lewis Chessum: "We arrived in Cape Town on Sunday and have enjoyed a couple of training days since we landed. Thursday is a chance for us to recharge the batteries before we go into our final prep for the Ireland game.
"The defeat against Ireland in March hurt. This is our chance to make up for that result and build momentum for the rest of the championship. It’s always a proud moment pulling on the jersey and all the boys are excited to get going on Saturday.
"Ireland are going to want to back up their Grand Slam and it’s our job to make a statement and set the standard for us going forward."
U20 Men's side to face Ireland
15. Sam Harris (Bath Rugby)
14. Tobias Elliott (Saracens)
13. Rekeiti Ma'asi-White (Sale Sharks)
12. Joseph Woodward (Leicester Tigers)
11. Joe Jenkins (Bristol Bears)
10. Connor Slevin* (Harlequins)
9. Charlie Bracken (Saracens)
1. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
2. Finn Theobald-Thomas (Gloucester)
4. Harvey Cuckson* (Bath Rugby)
5. Lewis Chessum (Captain, Leicester Tigers)
6. Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers)
7. Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)
8. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins)
Replacements
16. Nathan Jibulu (Harlequins)
17. Archie McArthur (Gloucester)
18. James Halliwell* (Bristol Bears)
19. Nathan Michelow* (Saracens)
20. Tristan Woodman (Sale Sharks)
21. Nye Thomas (Sale Sharks)
22. Louie Johnson (Newcastle Falcons)
23. Jacob Cusick (Leicester Tigers)
*Denotes England U20 debut