England U20 Men to face Italy U20
England U20 Men head coach Alan Dickens has named his side to take on Italy this Friday at Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium.
Lewis Chessum skippers the side in the second round of the U20 Six Nations, partnered by Danny Eite in the second row.
- Kick off is at 7pm
- Watch live on BBC iPlayer
- Purchase tickets to the match
They pack behind a front row of Archie McArthur, Tim Hoyt and hooker Finn Theobald-Thomas. Last week’s Player of the Match Greg Fisilau starts in the number seven shirt, alongside Chandler Cunningham-South and Finn Carnduff in the backrow.
The half back pairing will once again see Charlie Bracken and Monty Bradbury take the field, with Joseph Woodward and Rekeiti Ma'asi-White in the centres. Following a hat-trick against Scotland, Josh Hathaway retains his spot on one wing, with Tobias Elliott on the other. Sam Harris will again line up at fullback.
Benjamin Waghorn comes onto on otherwise unchanged bench in place of Toby Cousins. Calum Scott, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Afolabi Fasogbon, Robert Carmichael, Joshua Manz, Nye Thomas and Louie Johnson are the other replacements.
"We can take many positives away from our match against Scotland, particularly from the first 25 minutes and in the final 10 when the team played with speed and intensity," said Dickens. "While we lost the momentum early in the second half, I was really pleased with how the players wrestled back control to close out the match.
"The players are back in camp and have had a good few days of preparation. We’re now looking forward to our match against Italy at Kingsholm Stadium and will take a settled side into the fixture.
"All teams in this year’s Six Nations are quality sides. We saw Italy push France until the final whistle last week, so a full 80-minute performance will be needed against them on Friday."
U20 squad
Starting
1. Archie McArthur (Gloucester)
2. Finn Theobald-Thomas (Gloucester)
3. Tim Hoyt (Leicester Tigers)
4. Danny Eite (Gloucester)
5. Lewis Chessum (Leicester Tigers)
6. Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers)
7. Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)
8. Chandler Cunningham-South (London Irish)
9. Charlie Bracken (Saracens)
10. Monty Bradbury (London Irish)
11. Josh Hathaway (Gloucester)
12. Joseph Woodward (Leicester Tigers)
13. Rekeiti Ma'asi-White (Sale Sharks)
14. Tobias Elliott (Saracens)
15. Sam Harris (Bath Rugby)
Replacements
16. Calum Scott (London Irish)
17. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
18. Afolabi Fasogbon (London Irish)
19. Robert Carmichael (Leicester Tigers)
20. Joshua Manz (Leicester Tigers)
21. Nye Thomas (Sale Sharks)
22. Louie Johnson (Newcastle Falcons)
23. Benjamin Waghorn (Harlequins)
