England U20 Men's team to face Fiji
England defeated Argentina 41-20 in their opening game of the tournament.
Head coach Mark Mapletoft and assistant coach Andy Titterrell have named their England squad to face Fiji in the World Rugby U20 Championship.
The Pool C clash sees England take on Apisai Sailada’s men on Thursday (15:30 BST kick-off) at Athlone Stadium following their 41-20 victory over Argentina, where debutant Jack Bracken registered a hat trick of tries. The game will be available to view live on RugbyPass TV.
Captain Finn Carnduff led the U20 Men to victory in Saturday’s tournament opener and, alongside Leicester Tigers clubmate Ollie Allan and Newcastle Falcons’ Oli Spencer, he retains his place in the starting XV amongst 12 changes.
First starts are awarded to Cam Miell (Leicester Tigers), Kane James (Exeter Chiefs), Arthur Green (Bath Rugby), Ben Coen (Exeter Chiefs) and Angus Hall (Saracens), with Green and Hall also set to earn their maiden competitive caps this Thursday.
Mapletoft and Titterrell can call upon experience from a bench with a cumulative 58 U20 caps. All eight replacements played a part in the victory over Los Pumitas.
TEAM TO FACE FIJI
Starting
15. Ioan Jones
14. Toby Cousins
13. Ben Waghorn
12. Oli Spencer
11. Angus Hall
10. Benjamin Coen
9. Ollie Allan
2. James Isaacs
6. Finn Carnduff (c)
7. Kane James
8. Arthur Green
Replacements
16. Craig Wright
18. Afolabi Fasogbon
19. Junior Kpoku
20. Henry Pollock
21. Lucas Friday
22. Josh Bellamy
23. Alex Wills
MAPLETOFT ON SELECTION
“Argentina was an incredibly demanding opening fixture to start the tournament with, and the team met those tasks and answered the questions posed to them. We believe it’s right to balance the game time throughout the squad, particularly with the quick turnaround between match days.
“It’s a testament to the hard work on and off the pitch that we came through Saturday with a full squad to choose from ahead of Thursday’s Test. Our staff all share a lot of excitement to see these players grab their chance and capitalise on the momentum created from Match day 1.
“There were many game-changing outputs from players across the match day squad last time out, and with our consistency in preparation, I have every confidence that will translate into a largely new group that are eager to stake their claim.”
FIXTURES & RESULTS
England 41-20 Argentina
England v Fiji - (15:30 BST kick-off)
9 July - South Africa v England - (18:00 BST kick-off)
