Northampton Saints players Toby Thame and Craig Wright have both been selected by England for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship, with head coach Mark Mapletoft today naming his squad to travel to South Africa later this month.
Both players were included in the tour to Georgia in May, and involved in two friendlies against their hosts, but will hope to win their first full Under-20 caps during the upcoming tournament.
The England side will begin training at Pennyhill Park on Saturday 17 June, before travelling to the World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Cape Town which runs from 24 June to 14 July and features the top 12 Under-20 rugby nations.
Played over five matchdays, England are in Pool B where they will face Ireland, Fiji and Australia.
England Under-20s head coach, Mark Mapletoft, said: “Congratulations to all players selected. The World Rugby Under-20 Championship is the peak of the age-grade calendar year, 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.”
Mark Mapletoft, England Under-20s head coach
“This is the first time since 2019 that the World Rugby Under-20 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.”
England’s World Rugby Under-20 Championship squad
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 (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 Under-20 (note: matches during the recent tour of Georgia were friendlies and therefore not capped)
England match schedule
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
A full playing schedule is available on the World Rugby website, and tickets to the tournament are available here.
