England U20 Men’s head coach Mark Mapletoft and assistant coach Andy Titterrell have named their match day 23, to take on Italy in the first round of the 2024 Under-20 Men’s Six Nations Championship.
The pathway cohort travel to Treviso to take on Massimo Brunello’s team at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo this Friday 2nd February, with the action kicking-off at 19:15 GMT. The match will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer.
Leicester Tigers’ versatile forward Finn Carnduff will lead out the team after being named the U20 team captain for the tournament.
The Market Harborough RUFC and Leicester Grammar School product, who represented his country in the 2023 U20 Six Nations and World Rugby U20 Championship, was recently involved in his 10th senior Leicester Tigers appearance. Carnduff came off the bench in Leicester’s 20-19 Gallagher Premiership win away to Harlequins.
England U20 Men head coach Mark Mapletoft said: “It’s great to be back in a game week with the boys, the team are incredibly excited for Friday’s test against a very challenging Italian side.
“I’d like to congratulate Finn on his captaincy, it’s imperative we have players that can lead by their actions on the pitch and we’re lucky to have such a tight-knit group of players to represent us.
“Over the past week, we’ve challenged the team to push themselves in a highly competitive environment as well as seeking to emulate our core principles of speed, attachment and space.
“Andy, the coaches and I have welcomed the intensity that the boys have channelled their rugby through in Bisham recently, and that excites us ahead of a tournament we want to start strongly in this week.”
Carnduff is accompanied by six other capped U20 players in the matchday XV, with further capped experience from the bench in the form of forwards James Halliwell (Bristol Bears), Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs) and Nathan Michelow (Saracens).
Sale Sharks prop forward Asher Opoku-Fordjour and scrum-half Archie McParland of Northampton Saints, both U20 Elite Player Squad members, arrive into the U20 national fold with 19 senior club appearances to their names across domestic and European competition this season.
The U20 Men have accelerated preparations for the Six Nations tournament in recent weeks with fixtures against Bath United (Bath Rugby 2nd Team) and Oxford University. England U20 were defeated 33-42 scoreline by Bath United, but then emerged strong victors against the scholars, with a 44-5 landslide win over Oxford University.
Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre hosted Mapletoft’s set-up once again in a week of unit work, gym sessions and prepare to play routines in preparation for the challenge of Friday’s hosts, Italy. Last season, England recorded a 32-25 win over Italy in the U20 Six Nations, with the victory taking place in front of a capacity crowd at Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium.
Italy U20 arrive into match week in high confidence, after a 22-18 warm-up victory over France U20 in Viadana this January.
England U20 Men’s team to face Italy
15 Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons)
14 Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints) *
13 Ben Waghorn (Harlequins) *
12 Sean Kerr (Harlequins)
11 Alex Wills (Sale Sharks) *
10 Rory Taylor (Gloucester Rugby)
9 Archie McParland (Northampton Saints)
1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks) *
2 Craig Wright (Northampton Saints) *
3 Billy Sela (Bath Rugby)
4 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens)
5 Junior Kpoku (Racing 92)
6 Finn Carnduff (c) (Leicester Tigers) *
7 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)
8 Zach Carr (Harlequins) *
Replacements
16 Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons)
17 Scott Kirk (Bath Rugby)
18 James Halliwell (Bristol Bears) *
19 Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs) *
20 Nathan Michelow (Saracens) *
21 Ben Douglas (Newcastle Falcons)
22 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins)
23 Ollie Spencer (Newcastle)
*denotes a player previously capped at U20 level
England U20 Men’s 2024 U20 Six Nations fixtures
2 February – Italy v England – 19:15 – Stadio Monigo, Treviso
9 February – England v Wales – 19:15 – The Recreation Ground. Tickets available here.
23 February – Scotland v England – 19:15 – Hive Stadium, Edinburgh
8 March – England v Ireland – 19:15 – The Recreation Ground. Tickets available here.