A returning face to Northampton Saints has urged the Club’s supporters to watch a ‘very exciting bunch of players’ ahead of the 2026 Guinness U20 Men’s Six Nations showdown between England and Wales this Friday at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
The home of Saints is hosting the opening round encounter on Friday 6 February (kick-off: 7.45pm) – tickets are available priced from just £10 adult and £5 child by clicking HERE.
The eagerly-anticipated match will be a homecoming for England coach Will Parkin, who spent ten years at Saints initially as community coach before progressing through the ranks to work with the club’s Academy, before leaving to join the England Pathways Programme in 2023.
“There’s certainly no better opportunity for any supporters to come and watch an exciting brand of rugby and also to get their eyes on players that we’ll hopefully see light up the PREM over the years to come, and go on and do and do special things in an England shirt,” said Parkin.
“We have all seen with Henry Pollock, less than 12 months ago he was putting an U20s shirt on himself, and we saw what he went on to achieve in not just a Test match shirt but a Lions shirt that summer as well.
The current U20 squad features young Saints Aiden Ainsworth-Cave, Oliver Scola, Sonny Tonga’uiha, Henry Lumley, James Pater and Jonny Weimann.
They are players that Parkin knows well from his time in Northampton and he is looking forward to returning to cinch Stadium on international duty.
“I’ve still got lots of friends still at the Club, both playing and coaching and management staff as well,” he said. “But the beauty of this current role is that you get to come across all the clubs, and it’s always nice coming back to Saints and catching up and also working again with the lads.
“Guys like Jonny, Aiden, Oli – I was fortunate enough to work with some of them since 14/15 years old, so now to see them in an England shirt and getting to work with them again is a huge privilege and something I’m really looking forward to.
“Having 10 years with Saints was a huge honour and something that I look back on fondly. I’ve really enjoyed working with the U18s, a number of these boys I’ve worked with since they were 16/17, and now I’m following them through into the U20s.
“It’s been great to be part of that journey with them, and now I’m looking forward to getting back to Saints on a pitch that will certainly suit us, and first hand knowing how good the local support is for the Club.
“I hope they can get behind all of the England boys – especially those that are representing Northampton in that first game against Wales.”
England U20 agonisingly fell just short of back-to-back U20 Six Nations titles last year, suffering a final round loss to Wales that handed the trophy to France.
The 2026 edition of the competition starts with a re-match of that encounter at cinch Stadium, and Parkin is hoping the experience of playing at the venue will play a key role in the players’ development moving forward.
Parkin explained: “We speak a lot about pointing the pathway players into developing into players to excel in a world-leading England team, and part of that is the on-field support they get and a massive part is also exposing them to opportunities like we have coming up at cinch Stadium, playing in front of hopefully a big crowd – which for some of these boys will be the biggest crowd they’ve ever played in.
“We’ve got boys that are going to be involved in this that will be current household names, playing and excelling in the PREM already, but we’ve also got boys that have perhaps been plying their trade in National League or BUCS Super Rugby, or perhaps have just been coming back from injury.
“I know for a fact they will be coming into this Six Nations excited about the opportunity they have to play on a pitch like the one at cinch Stadium, but also and most importantly excited about putting an England shirt on and performing.”