England U20s Head Coach Mark Mapletoft has named his squad for the 2023 U20s World Championships. The 30-player squad head to South Africa with nine uncapped England hopefuls in the ranks.
England U20s finished their tournament preparations with a two-match series against Georgia in Tbilisi. The series was drawn, after two well-fought contests ended 41-38 (to England) and 40-38 (to Georgia).
The tournament, hosted in the Cape Town region, returns for the first time in four years. The top 12 U20 rugby nations compete, with England drawn into Pool B with Ireland, Fiji and Australia.
“Congratulations to all players selected,” said Mapletoft to the official England Rugby Website. “The World Rugby U20 Championship is the peak of the age grade calendar and for many this will be the highlight of their rugby journeys so far.
“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.”
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 (C) (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)*
*Uncapped England U20 (note: matches during the recent tour of Georgia were friendlies and therefore not capped)
England U20 v Ireland U20 – Saturday 24 June – KO 12:30pm BST
England U20 v Fiji U20 – Thursday 29 June – KO 6:00pm BST
England U20 v Australia U20 – Tuesday 4 July – KO 1:00pm BST