Toby Cousins, Archie McParland and Henry Pollock have all been named in England’s starting line-up for the final round of Under-20s Six Nations matches this Friday (15 March).
The trio of Northampton Saints – who have featured together in England’s last three outings in the tournament – all retain their places in the starting XV after England’s agonising draw against Ireland in Round 4, where a last-minute Irish try saw the scoreline end 32-32.
England enter the last round of matches at the top of the table, sitting ahead of Ireland by a single point, and face third-place France at Stade du Hameau in Pau. The match will be streamed live on the BBC Sport website.
England head coach Mark Mapletoft said: “The team are incredibly excited for Friday night. These are the types of fixtures we all want to be part of in rugby and we’ll savour the opportunity we now have.
“I’ve been impressed with the resilient mindset of our team after last week’s result, it’s a strong reminder to myself, Andy and the coaches what a special group we’re lucky to possess this year. It was a fantastic crowd last week, and I want to thank all of those who have come out to support us at the Rec.
“The team have worked extremely hard and are intent on leaving their mark on this fixture, and this tournament overall, against what will be one of our biggest challenges yet in Pau.”
England Under-20 side to face France
15 Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby, Minchinhampton RFC, 3 caps)
14 Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints, Bugbrooke RFC, 5 caps)
13 Ben Waghorn (Harlequins, Chipstead Rugby Club, 6 caps)
12 Sean Kerr (Harlequins, Effingham and Leatherhead RFC, 3 caps)
11 Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons, West Park Leeds RFC, 4 caps)
10 George Makepeace-Cubitt (Rams RFC, Reading Abbey RFC, 3 caps)
9 Archie McParland (Northampton Saints, Ruthin RFC, 3 caps)
1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, Broadstreet RFC, 13 caps)
2 James Isaacs (Saracens, Hemel Hempstead Camelot RFC, 1 cap)
3 Billy Sela (Bath Rugby, Royal Wootton Bassett RFC, 4 caps)
4 Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs, Newton Abbot Rugby Club, 4 caps)
5 Junior Kpoku (Racing 92, Saracens Amateurs, 3 caps)
6 Finn Carnduff (c) (Leicester Tigers, Market Harborough RFC, 14 caps)
7 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, Banbury RFC, 4 caps)
8 Nathan Michelow (Saracens, Coopers Company and Coborn School, 9 caps)
Replacements:
16 Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons, Barnard Castle Rugby Club, 4 caps)
17 Scott Kirk (Bath Rugby, Michaelhouse College, 4 caps)
18 James Halliwell (Bristol Bears, Thornbury Broncos Rugby Club, 8 caps)
19 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens, Blackheath Rugby, 3 caps)
20 Kane James (Exeter Chiefs, St Peters RFC, 3 caps)
21 Ben Douglas (Newcastle Falcons, Northern Football Club, 3 caps)
22 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins, Rosslyn Park, 3 caps)
23 Oli Spencer (Newcastle Falcons, Epping Rams Rugby, 3 caps)
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