The first of England U19 Men’s 2024 fixtures take place this Saturday (30th March) at Doncaster Knights’ Castle Park, with head coach Andy Titterrell naming his match day 26 to take on France (1pm kick-off).
Titterrell, the U20 Men’s assistant coach, assumes the mantle this week in Yorkshire following on from his side’s Under-20 Men’s Six Nations title triumph, and is accompanied by former Harlequins coach Mark Mapletoft in the set-up.
The U19 side serves as an avenue for England Rugby pathway players to develop their skillsets with meaningful game time on the international circuit, with fixtures also giving valuable minutes to players eligible for U20 selection in the summer’s World Rugby U20 Championships in South Africa.
Last year’s entertaining bill of fixtures, which saw England triumph 60-14 and 28-26 over Wales and Italy respectively, and featured the likes of Nathan Michelow and Archie McParland who went on to recently achieve U20 Six Nations honours.
This weekend’s squad includes four U20 Elite Player Squad members (Jacob Oliver, Olamide Sodeke, Kane James, Josh Bellamy) that won the recent U20 Six Nations Championship, and will be led by Thomas Burrow.
Alfie Longstaff, Tye Raymont, Oscar Beckerleg and Tom Burrow also attended the maiden pathway front-five forwards camp led by Titterrell and U18 Men’s head coach Jonathan Pendlebury last autumn.
England follow up this weekend’s contest with a trip to L’Aquila to take on Italy U19 Men on Saturday 6th April 2024 at the Stadio Tommaso Fattori.
“These are a unique set of fixtures which gives both coaches and supporters a flavour of the talent coming through the pathway,” Andy Titterrell stated.
“We’re fortunate enough to boast Six Nations winners within this squad already, and that’s testament to their rate of development, willing to learn and excellent work ethic. Coming off what has been an enthralling eight weeks, I’m pleased to report this group have kept excitement high within the coaching staff.
“Doncaster have been incredibly hospitable with their facilities this week and have allowed us to prepare well for what will no doubt be a compelling match this Saturday.”
England U19 Men’s side to face France:
15 Jack Kinder (Leicester Tigers)
14 Jack Bracken (Saracens)
13 Angus Hall (Saracens)
12 Charlie Myall (Leicester Tigers)
11 William Glister (Northampton Saints)
10 Joshua Bellamy (Harlequins)
9 Max Blinkhorn (Nottingham University)
1 Ralph McEachran (Sale Sharks)
2 Jacob Oliver (Newcastle)
3 Tye Raymont (Sale Sharks)
4 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens)
5 Thomas Burrow (c) (Sale Sharks)
6 Reuben Logan (Northampton Saints)
7 George Timmins (Bath Rugby)
8 Kane James (Exeter Chiefs)
Replacements
16 Alfie Longstaff (Yorkshire Rugby Academy)
17 Bronson Mellowes (Leicester Tigers)
18 Owen Popple (Hartpury)
19 Oscar Beckerleg (Exeter Chiefs)
20 Simon Koroiyadi (Leicester Tigers)
21 Dom Hanson (Sale Sharks)
22 Benjamin Coen (Exeter Chiefs)
23 Conor Byrne (Harlequins)
24 Sol Moody (Exeter Chiefs)
25 Isaac Keller (Newcastle Falcons)
26 Campbell Ridl (Exeter Chiefs)