By Kath
May 6 2010

ENGLAND U20s SQUAD & FIXTURES for ARGENTINA JUNE 2010 - IRB JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

IRB JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 

ENGLAND U20s SQUAD & FIXTURES

for

ARGENTINA JUNE 2010

England U20s Head Coach Mark Mapletoft has named his 26 man squad for the tournament in Argentina this June.   England face the host nation, Ireland and France in the pool stages.   Mapletoft is full of enthusiasm about his well-balanced side mounting a serious challenge for the world title at this summer's IRB Junior World Championship.

England have reached the last two JWC finals - beaten by New Zealand in both - with players of the calibre of Leicester Tigers scrum half Ben Youngs and Northampton Saints lock Courtney Lawes catapulted into Martin Johnson's senior squad on the back of their rise through the junior ranks.

Tom Homer (London Irish)

This year's Under 20 squad includes six survivors from 2009 in hooker Jamie George (Saracens), props Shaun Knight (Gloucester Rugby) and Joe Marler (Harlequins), fly half Rory Clegg (Harlequins), wing Will Hurrell (Leicester Tigers) and full back Tom Homer (London Irish), who was the top scorer at last year's tournament in Japan with 68 points.   Also called up is 18-year-old London Wasps wing Christian Wade, who has touched down 19 tries for England in the IRB World Sevens Series this season.

Mapletoft said:  "The way we finished the Six Nations with some of our attacking play makes it hard not to be enthused and the players not involved at the back end of the tournament - like Gloucester's Freddie Burns and Jonny May - have really bounced back fantastically well. You've got to have players in form.    "The forwards performed consistently well, so that part of selection was fairly straightforward. The backs were a little bit more complicated after guys came in from outside the squad and did well, and other guys have picked up some good game time with their clubs. Overall we've got a really good balance."   

Mapletoft added: "The group will be fascinating with three very difficult matches. In the Six Nations we lost to Ireland, then beat France quite comfortably, and Argentina at home is supposed to be our 'easiest' game! We'll have to be very strong. Whoever wins our group will be really battle-hardened going into the semi finals."

Second seeds England are based in Rosario for their three Pool B games, starting with a high profile clash with Argentina at the Estadio El Coloso del Parque on June 5.

England U20 Junior World Championship squad
Forwards
Arthur Ellis (London Wasps)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Jamie Gibson (London Irish)
Alex Gray (Newcastle Falcons)
Calum Green (Leicester Tigers)
Lee Imiolek (Sale Sharks)
Shaun Knight (Gloucester Rugby)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Charlie Matthews (Harlequins)
Jacob Rowan (Leeds Carnegie)
Mako Vunipola (Bristol Rugby)
Will Welch (Newcastle Falcons)
Jackson Wray (Saracens)

Backs
Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby)
Tom Casson (Harlequins)
Tom Catterick (Newcastle Falcons)
Rory Clegg (Harlequins)
Charlie Davies (Stade Francais)
Andrew Forsyth (Leicester Tigers)
Sam Harrison (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Homer (London Irish)
Will Hurrell (Leicester Tigers)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Sam Smith (Harlequins)
Christian Wade (London Wasps)

IRB Junior World Championship Schedule
June 5: England v Argentina (Rosario 12pm BST)
June 9: England v Ireland (Rosario 10am)
June 13: England v France (Rosario 10am)
June 17: Match Day Four
June 21: Finals Day

Eng U20s Squad/Fixtures 2010 Argentina Junior Championships

Discussion started by Unofficial England Rugby Union , 06/05/2010 18:19

Unofficial England Rugby Union
06/05/2010 18:19

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

Reply Quote Report

England News
25/05/2010 17:09

Quins hooker Buchanan replaces Catterick in England U20 squad
Tuesday May 25, 2010



Rob Buchanan in action for England U18 last season

Tom Catterick has been forced out of the England Under 20 squad travelling to this summer's IRB Junior World Championship through injury.

The Newcastle Falcons full back sustained shoulder damage requiring surgery in last week's warm-up game against Loughborough Students.

His place will be taken by Harlequins hooker Rob Buchanan, who offers cover across the front row.

Buchanan, 19, appeared at prop for England U18 last season and won his first Under 20 cap as a hooker in the 41-14 RBS 6 Nations victory against Wales in February.

He was a try-scorer in the U19 England Academies 37-34 win over France U19 last month and has been training with England U20 at their pre-tournament camp.

The change alters the balance of the squad, with England flying out with 15 forwards and 11 backs to Argentina, where they face a demanding schedule of five internationals in 17 days.


"It's a shame to lose Tom Catterick, who'd done well for us and for Newcastle this season and we hope he makes a full recovery," said England U20 head coach Mark Mapletoft.

"Having lost Tom, we went away and looked closely at previous tournaments and the nature of our squad.

"Rob has experience across the front row and he's been doing really well in his time with us so far.

"It was a difficult decision but we looked at the squad and decided ultimately to go for a 15-11 split because we think we have enough versatility in the back line to cope."

England are No.2 seeds for the tournament after reaching the 2008 and 2009 finals in Wales and Japan respectively.

Their campaign starts against hosts Argentina in Rosario
on June 5 and they face further pool games against Ireland (June 9) and France (June 13) before the knock-out stages on June 17 and 21.

Reply Quote Report

Message List Search Log In

Your Name:
Subject:

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net