Newcastle star Ben Redshaw is out to 'create a new story' with England U20s this summer

The opportunity marked a significant personal moment for Redshaw, who had missed both the U20 Six Nations earlier this year and the final of last year’s World Rugby U20 Championship due to injury.

“Awesome experience,” said Redshaw on leading the team in the win over Wales. “I was gutted to miss out on the Six Nations stuff with injury, but it was an absolute honour to go out there and captain. A really good experience for myself but also for the team to start building on some foundations and looking forward to bringing them to the World Cup.”

Redshaw was part of last year’s England U20 squad that lifted the trophy after beating France in the final, but he was ruled out of the title decider due to injury. Now, with a renewed sense of purpose, he is determined to make his mark in this year’s tournament and help lead a relatively inexperienced squad.

He spoke about some of the inexperience that he noticed against Wales.

“It was a good experience for a lot of our younger lads to be exposed to that level,” he said. “As you probably saw on the team sheet we brought quite an inexperienced team to start that first 40 and that showed a bit in that first 40, but there's a lot of talent in that group.”

As one of the more experienced players in the team, Redshaw has taken on the responsibility of integrating new players into the team, both on and off the field. Alongside fellow leader Tom Burrow, he’s been helping to establish a new identity for the squad, distinct from last year’s championship-winning group.

“We used 'Brotherhood' quite a lot last year, we're changing things up a bit this year, creating our own little story. Obviously we were successful last year in terms of what we did but this year we're making it all about us and creating a new story with this young group.”

Redshaw believes the sense of closeness that “Brotherhood” once represented is still present, but evolving with the group.

“Brotherhood for us in terms of a word and what it meant last year was quite specific to that group,” he said. “I think with us being a new group with new faces it was important that we defined what suits us and what drives us and motivates us. Last year, that brotherhood piece in terms of being as close as we can together as a group was really important. For us now, it's, can we still keep this brotherhood alive? But also build our own story.”

Despite the success of 2024, Redshaw knows there is work to do to reach the same heights this year. England’s U20s lost their final Six Nations game against Wales in Cardiff, ultimately finishing second to France, and their recent win against the same opponents showed there’s still room to grow.

“If anyone watched that game against Wales you'd realise that we're not quite at the level that we thought we were or where we'd like to be, even,” he said. “But I think we've put a lot of work in this week.”

While Redshaw looks ahead to a potential World Rugby U20 Championship campaign, he’s also preparing for the next step in his club career. After coming up through the Newcastle Falcons ranks, he will join Gloucester this summer.

“I'm so excited to get down to Gloucester,” Redshaw said. “The way they played this season and the players they've got, the players they've signed alongside me are pretty special. The brand they play, the coaches they've got, everything they're about is really exciting. So I'm really looking forward to pulling on a Cherry and White jersey and going and playing in front of The Shed.”

He leaves Newcastle during a period of change, with Red Bull recently acquiring the club. The deal brings newfound stability to a side that had experienced significant financial uncertainty of late.

“Dead chuffed for them,” Redshaw said. “It was quite a hard time being at the club the past two years, the way things have gone and that uncertainty around the group and whether that was going to happen or whether it's not actually was quite tough on a lot of the lads. I'm glad that they've got that news and can finally relax and hopefully get some contracts dished out so lads have jobs for next year.”