Lewis Chessum to captain England Under 20 side
England will play their first game against Ireland on 24th June
©PA
England Under 20 head coach Mark Mapletoft has named the squad for the upcoming World Rugby U20 Championship to be played in South Africa.
Gloucester’s Archie McArthur and Saracens’ Tobias Elliott have been drafted into the 30-man squad which will be captained by Leicester Tigers’ Lewis Chessum.
Northampton Saints’ Craig Wright, Saracens’ Nathan Michelow, Bath’s Harvey Cuckson, Bristol Bears’ James Halliwell, and Harlequins pair Ethan Clark and Zach Carr are the uncapped players in the squad along with Sale Shark’s Alex Wills, Harlequins’ Connor Slevin, and Northampton Saints’ Toby Thame.
England will kick start their campaign with a clash against Ireland on 24th June followed by clashes against Fiji and Australia on 29th June and 4th July respectively.
“Congratulations to all players selected. The World Rugby U20 Championship is the peak of the age-grade calendar year and for many this will be the highlight of their rugby journeys so far," said Mapletoft.
“The players have learned a lot as a team and about themselves this year, including during our Six Nations campaign and on our recent tour of Georgia, and we’ll be better as a group for it. This is the first time since 2019 that the World Rugby U20 Championship has been played, so we’re very excited to take this squad to South Africa and test ourselves against the world’s best teams.
“Our squad reflects the diversity and strength of English rugby with every Premiership club represented, and we trust each player to play with pride every time they pull on an England shirt.”
England men’s World Rugby U20 Championship squad
Forwards
Afolabi Fasogbon (London Irish)
Archie McArthur (Gloucester)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
Chandler Cunningham-South (London Irish)
Craig Wright (Northampton Saints)
Ethan Clarke (Harlequins)
Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers)
Finn Theobald-Thomas (Gloucester)
Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)
Harry Browne (Harlequins)
Harvey Cuckson (Bath Rugby)
James Halliwell (Bristol Bears)
Lewis Chessum (Leicester Tigers)
Nathan Jibulu (Harlequins)
Nathan Michelow (Saracens)
Tristan Woodman (Sale Sharks)
Zach Carr (Harlequins)
Backs
Alex Wills (Sale Sharks)
Cassius Cleaves (Harlequins)
Charlie Bracken (Saracens)
Connor Slevin (Harlequins)
Jacob Cusick (Leicester Tigers)
Joe Jenkins (Bristol Bears)
Joseph Woodward (Leicester Tigers)
Louie Johnson (Newcastle Falcons)
Nye Thomas (Sale Sharks)
Rekeiti Ma’asi-White (Sale Sharks)
Sam Harris (Bath Rugby)
Tobias Elliott (Saracens)
Toby Thame (Northampton Saints)
