England U18 announce 26-man squad for South Africa tour

Rugby Football Union's national academy development manager John Fletcher has announced a 26-man squad for the England U-18 team for the upcoming fixtures against France U18 and South Africa Schools.

The squad which will be captained by Harlequins wing Gabriel Ibitoye has a good blend of players from schools as well as Achieving Academic and Sporting Excellence.

Four players from Wellington College has been included which is the most with outside centre Matt Williams, fly-half Tom Parton, scrum half Rory Brand and Ben Loader making the cut and back-row Tom Curry and Ben Curry will feature from Oundle School.

Fletcher believes the upcoming fixtures will give a good amount of exposure to the young and rising talents.

“The tour gives us an opportunity to play in the Southern Hemisphere in a different environment and against a very tough opposition” said the Rugby Football Union’s national academy development manager John Fletcher.

“It also gives this group of players an opportunity to bond and for us to see how they adapt away from home.”

Fletcher also expressed confidence on Ibitoye's leadership qualities and stressed on the need to adapt quickly in order to get desirable results.

“He is one of our more experienced players, he has good energy and in terms of how we want to play and express ourselves Gabriel epitomises that every time he goes onto the field,” added Fletcher.

“There will be different challenges as the opposition will pose different problems, our aim is to adapt and come up with the solutions to those problems.

“We will stick to our principles in defence and attack and we expect the players to adapt on the field. The plan is to give the players a full tour experience, which is crucial to their development.”

Fixtures:

France U18 (Friday, 12 August) 11am BST
South Africa Schools A (Tuesday, 16 August) 1.30pm BST
South Africa Schools (Saturday, 20 August) 1.15pm BST

Squad:

Josh Bayliss (Millfield School), Jamie Blamire (Gosforth Academy), Rory Brand (Wellington College), Joe Cokanasiga (Bushe Academy), Ben Curry (Oundle School), Tom Curry (Oundle School), Levi Davis (Denstone College), Ali Crossdale (Sedbergh School), James Grayson (Moulton College), Ted Hill (Worcester College), Gabriel Ibitoye (Trinity), Ciaran Knight (St Peters), Dino Lamb-Cona (Cranleigh), Jarod Leat (St Pauls Catholic College), Ben Loader (Wellington College), Sam Moore (Sedbergh School), Oli Morris (New Hall), Ehren Painter (Felsted), Tom Parton (Wellington College), Alex Seville (Hartpury College), Jacob Umaga (Wyggeston & QEI College), Henry Walker (Bromsgrove School), Harry Simmons (Gresham School), Matt Williams (Wellington College), Josh Williams (Hartlepool 6th Form College), Tom Willis (The Henley College)