Jonthan Pendlebury has selected a 24-player squad to travel to Chalon-sur-Saône to play France on Saturday 9 March.
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The fixture takes place at Rugby Tango Chalonnais, kicking-off at 17:00 CET and is a capped fixture at U18 age-grade level.
Fifteen players are introduced into the squad, which consists of players from nine Premiership Rugby academies as well as the RFU-centralised Midlands West and Midlands Central academies.
In the most recent meeting of the European pathway sides, Pendlebury’s England emerged 41-0 victors in the 2023 U18 International Series in South Africa, scoring seven unanswered tries in the first Test of their three-game series.
The squad are set to feature in this year’s Six Nations Rugby U18 Men’s Festival, with fixtures against Wales, Scotland and the recently introduced Georgia now confirmed at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma, Italy.
England U18 Men’s head coach Jonathan Pendlebury said: “Myself, Will and the staff are really excited to bring this new cohort into the U18 level here at England Rugby. We’re aiming to give them positive experiences on and off the field, with what promises to be a really exciting trip across the Channel.
“In what will be our first outing of the season, France pose a great challenge for us to overcome and will prepare us nicely for our trip to Parma next month. This is a fantastic opportunity to not only prepare for our U18 Six Nations Festival, but also to implement our core values of exploration and adaptation as we ready these young men to excel as England internationals.”
ENGLAND U18 MEN’S SQUAD TO FACE FRANCE (INCLUDES ACADEMY AND SCHOOL)
Tayo Adegbemile (Saracens, St Albans School) *
Aiden Ainsworth-Cave (Northampton Saints, Bedford School)
Jack Bracken (Saracens, St Albans School) *
Ollie Davies (Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar) *
Joe Davis (Newcastle Falcons, Barnard Castle School)
Tom Dye (Northampton Saints, Ipswich School)
Jos Gilmore (Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar)
Charlie Griffin (Saracens, Harrow School) *
Angus Hall (Saracens, The Judd School, Tonbridge) *
Patrick Hogg (Newcastle Falcons, Durham School)
Seb Kelly (Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar)
George Knowles (Midlands West, Hereford Cathedral School)
Nick Lilley (Exeter Chiefs, Exeter College) *
James Linegar (Bath Rugby, Kingswood School)
Tubuna Maka (Leicester Tigers, Brooksby College)
Josh Mann (Exeter Chiefs, Truro College)
Bronson Kingsley-Mellowes (Leicester Tigers, Brooksby College)
George Pearson (Midlands Central, City of Oxford College)
Solomon Shand (Gloucester Rugby, Hartpury College) *
Jimmy Staples (Harlequins, Seaford College)
Connor Treacey (Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff) *
Jonny Weimann (Northampton Saints, Bedford School)
Toby Wilson (Sale Sharks, Kings Macclesfield) *
Rafe Witheat (Northampton Saints, Stowe School)
*denotes a player previously capped at U18 level
ENGLAND U18 MEN’S 2024 U18 FESTIVAL FIXTURES
Matchday 1 (Saturday 30th March)
England v Wales (17:45 kick-off)
Matchday 2 (Wednesday 3rd April)
Scotland v England (13:15 kick-off)
Matchday 3 (Sunday 7th April)
England v Georgia (15:30 kick-off)
Four players who’ve been blacklisted by England boss Steve Borthwick
Rumour has it that Head Coach Borthwick has shifted focus from a number of aging stars, who have disclosed their plans for next season.
Zach Mercer
Mercer, has declared that he’s taking a break from England duty for the time being, expressing his disappointment at being excluded from the upcoming Six Nations Championship squad.
Mercer said: “I’ve been open with Steve, I’ve told him my opinions on it. I thought I haven’t really been given a crack which is what I feel like, to not even be given a game to try and prove myself is tough.
“I just don’t feel like he values what I can offer as a player and that’s me being honest, I don’t think he values what I can bring.
“Obviously I don’t fit into the system that he wants to run and, whether I agree with that or not, it is what it is.
“My focus now is on Gloucester and England can take a step aside for the moment.”
Borthwick response:
“Zach and I had a conversation last week. We’ve had a number of conversations over the last couple of weeks with Zach since he’s come back from injury.
“We’ve highlighted areas where players have done well and the areas where they bring a point of difference. It’s a competitive arena.
“And [we highlight] areas where we want them to develop them and add to their game. That’s the same conversation I had with Zach.
“When I’m talking to a player, I’m basing it in objectivity. I’m basing it on targets for them to go after, and then we can shape a shared understanding of what we’re seeing.
“Granted, sometimes as a coach you want something specific in a team, I’m always looking at all the coaches and all the players that are able to provide that.”