England Under-20s have named their side for the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship final, with Northampton Saints duo Henry Pollock and Craig Wright both starting the clash against France on Friday (19 July, kick-off: 6pm BST).
England defeated Ireland 31-20 in a thrilling semi-final last week to seal their place in the last stage of the tournament, with hooker Wright among the three English try-scorers in that clash.
The 20-year-old earns a tenth Under-20s cap when England go in search of silverware, starting in the front row with Saints teammate Pollock, 19, also set to make his tenth appearance at this level at openside flanker.
England Under-20s head coach, Mark Mapletoft said: “The last few days have been a good reminder of the hard work we have all put in to ensuring the development of this group. We are extremely proud to get to the final, but we cannot lose focus of the challenge in front of us.
“Since beating Ireland we have talked about taking even greater ownership. We have shown that in abundance in our last few games and it encapsulates what this squad is about.
“We expect nothing less come Friday. We will approach the game with the same fearlessness and resilience that has been so important to this point. We want to make our family, friends and all England supporters proud.”
The fixture will be available to stream live on RugbyPass TV.
ENGLAND UNDER-20s SIDE TO FACE FRANCE
15 Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby, Minchinhampton RFC, 8 caps)
14 Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons, West Park Leeds RFC, 8 caps)
13 Ben Waghorn (Harlequins, Chipstead Rugby Club, 9 caps)
12 Sean Kerr (Harlequins, Sutton and Epsom Rugby Club, 7 caps)
11 Alex Wills (Sale Sharks, Droitwich Rugby Club, 11 caps)
10 Ben Coen (Exeter Chiefs, Teignmouth RFC, 4 caps)
9 Ollie Allan (Leicester Tigers, Hungerford RFC, 4 caps)
1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, Broadstreet RFC, 18 caps)
2 Craig Wright (Northampton Saints, Braintree Rugby Club, 9 caps)
3 Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby, Bishop Wand School, 15 caps)
4 Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs, Newton Abbot RFC, 8 caps)
5 Junior Kpoku (Racing 92, Saracens Amateurs, 8 caps)
6 Finn Carnduff (c) (Leicester Tigers, Market Harborough RFC, 19 caps)
7 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, Buckingham Rugby Club, 9 caps)
8 Kane James (Exeter Chiefs, St Peters RFC, 8 caps)
Replacements:
16 James Isaacs (Saracens, Hemel Hempstead Camelot RFC, 5 caps)
17 Cameron Miell (Leicester Tigers, Paul Roos, 2 caps)
18 James Halliwell (Bristol Bears, Thornbury RFC, 11 caps)
19 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens, Blackheath Rugby Club, 8 caps)
20 Arthur Green (Bath Rugby, Frome RFC, 1 cap)
21 Lucas Friday (Harlequins, Bromley RFC, 4 caps)
22 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins, Rosslyn Park, 7 caps)
23 Angus Hall (Saracens, Sevenoaks Rugby Club, 3 caps)
England U20 Men’s 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship fixtures and results
Pool Rounds:
- Matchday 1 (29 June) – England 41-20 Argentina – Athlone Stadium
- Matchday 2 (4 July) – England 48-11 Fiji – Athlone Stadium
- Matchday 3 (9 July) – South Africa 12-17 England – Athlone Stadium
Knock-outs:
- Matchday 4 (14 July, semi-final) – England 31-20 Ireland – DHL Stadium
- Matchday 5 (final and ranking matches) – England vs France (Friday 19 July, kick-off: 6pm BST) – DHL Stadium
