Six Northampton Saints youngsters have been named in the England Under-20s Elite Playing Squad for the 2023/24 season, with the 32-man group named today.
Winger Toby Cousins and hooker Craig Wright return to the squad for the second year – having both represented their country at U20 level last term – but for Will Glister, Reuben Logan, Archie McParland and Henry Pollock their selection could bring their first caps at this level, with the quartet all named in the squad at just 18 years old.
This group will prepare for another year of competitive action with camps at Browns Sports Resort, Portugal and Bisham Abbey across December and January, as well as a newly announced pair of exhibition warm-ups against Bath Rugby and Oxford University.
Ahead of the squad announcement, head coach Mark Mapletoft expressed his belief in the 32 players selected for his U20 side this season.
“Andy [Titterrell] and I have assembled an extremely talented group to take us into this season, we have every confidence in their ability as well as their mindset as a team,” he stated.
“It’s a pleasure to be heading up the U20s side, I thoroughly enjoyed my time involved with the U18s and rest assured, I will continue to work closely with Jonathan [Pendlebury, England U18 Men’s head coach] and Will [Parkin, England U18 Men’s assistant coach] to ensure a streamlined experience for our boys in the pathway.
“Over the next few months, we will be working towards establishing continuity within our play and link together these very special players to best represent the England shirt in 2024.”
England U20 Men’s 2023/24 Elite Playing Squad
Ollie Allan (Leicester Tigers)
Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs) *
Josh Bellamy (Harlequins)
Jack Bennett (Bath Rugby)
Harry Browne (Harlequins) *
Tom Burrow (Sale Sharks)
Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers) *
Zach Carr (Harlequins) *
Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints) *
Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby) *
Will Glister (Northampton Saints)
James Halliwell (Bristol Bears) *
Kane James (Exeter Chiefs)
Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby)
Sean Kerr (Harlequins)
Reuben Logan (Northampton Saints)
Archie McParland (Northampton Saints)
Nathan Michelow (Saracens) *
Cameron Miell (Leicester Tigers)
Charlie Myall (Leicester Tigers)
Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks) *
Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)
Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons)
Malelili Satala-Navlivou (Leicester Tigers)
Lucas Schmid (Harlequins)
Billy Sela (Bath Rugby)
Olamide Sodeke (Saracens)
Rory Taylor (Gloucester Rugby)
Ben Waghorn (Harlequins) *
Alex Wills (Sale Sharks) *
Craig Wright (Northampton Saints) *
*denotes a player previously capped at England U20 Men’s level
England U20 Men’s U20 Six Nations fixtures
2 February - Italy v England - 19:15 GMT – Venue TBC
9 February - England v Wales - 19:15 GMT – The Recreation Ground
23 February - Scotland v England - 19:15 GMT – Venue TBC
8 March - England v Ireland - 19:15 GMT – Venue TBC
15 March - France v England - 20:00 GMT – Venue TBC
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