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Four Saints selected for England's World Rugby U20 Championship squad

Fraser Dingwall, Alex Coles, Ollie Sleightholme, and Samson Ma'asi have all been selected in Steve Bates' 28-man England squad for the 2019 World Rugby U20 Championship in Argentina.

The Championship takes place from the 4th to the 22nd of June in Argentina, with the cities of Rosario and Santa Fe playing host to 30 matches played over five match days across three venues.

“It will be a unique experience to go to Argentina and play in a tournament of this stature and I know they will be relishing the challenge.”

Steve Bates

All four of the young Saints were involved in this season's U20 Six Nations Championship for the Red Rose, with Dingwall also appearing in the World Championship last summer where England were beaten in the final by France.

Pool B sees 2018 runners-up England face Ireland (4 June), Italy (8 June) and Australia (12 June), having last lifted the trophy in 2016.

Steve Bates said: “Choosing 28 players from the 45 we have capped this season has been incredibly tough so it’s a pretty good achievement for these players to be selected for the tournament and they should be incredibly proud of their inclusion.

“The U20 Championship gives them a chance to pit themselves against the best players in the world at their own age group in an international competition before heading into senior rugby, so is an important stage in their development.

“For a lot of these players it will be a unique experience to go to Argentina and play in a tournament of this stature and I know they will be relishing the challenge. They are very lucky to be representing England and will be looking to do their country proud and continue our successful history in the competition.

“We were slightly disappointed with our consistency during the Six Nations and we know we have a lot of work to do, but we have a very good and experienced group of players and if we can keep them fit then we feel we are going to be very competitive in Argentina.”

England squad for World Rugby U20 Championship

Olly Adkins (Gloucester Rugby)
Alfie Barbeary (Wasps)
Josh Basham (Newcastle Falcons)
Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
Tom de Glanville (Bath Rugby)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)
Connor Doherty (Sale Sharks)
Nic Dolly (Sale Sharks)
Ollie Fox (Yorkshire Carnegie)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors)
Aaron Hinkley (Gloucester Rugby)
Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons)
Joel Kpoku (Saracens)
Samson Ma'asi (Northampton Saints)
Sam Maunder (Exeter Chiefs)
Kai Owen (Worcester Warriors)
Alfie Petch (Exeter Chiefs)
Cameron Redpath (Sale Sharks)
Arron Reed (Sale Sharks)
Tom Seabrook (Gloucester Rugby)
Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Marcus Street (Exeter Chiefs)
Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs)
Manu Vunipola (Saracens)
Tom Willis (Wasps)

England U20 fixtures

  • 4 June: England U20s v Ireland U20s (KO 7.30pm BST), live on World Rugby platforms.
  • 8 June: England U20s v Italy U20s (KO 7.30pm BST), live on World Rugby platforms.
  • 12 June: England U20s v Australia U20s (KO 7.30pm BST),live on World Rugby platforms.
  • Knockout stages on Monday, 17 June and finals day on Saturday, 22 June, live on ITV.  
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