Northampton Saints hooker Craig Wright has been named in Mark Mapletoft’s starting line-up for England Under-20s’ clash against South Africa, with the sides locking horns in the World Rugby Under-20 Championship third-place play-off.
Wright, who featured against Fiji earlier in the tournament, will start the match at Athlone Sports Stadium in Cape Town in the No.2 shirt, earning his second cap at Under-20s level in the process.
The match kicks off at 3.30pm (BST) on Friday 14 July and will be streamed on the World Rugby digital channels. ITV will also broadcast highlights from each matchday throughout the tournament.
Head coach Mapletoft said: “This is the last opportunity for this group to take to the field together, and I know they can’t wait to give it their all.
“This has been a fantastic learning opportunity for this talented bunch of players, and I’m sure the experience will put them in good stead for the future.
“Going up against the hosts on Friday will be a challenge, but I have confidence in the players to put in a performance that they can be proud of.”
ENGLAND U20s vs SOUTH AFRICA U20s
World Rugby U20 Championship, third-place play-off
Athlone Sports Stadium, Cape Town
Friday 14 July, 2023
Kick-off: 3.30pm (BST)
15 Sam Harris (Bath Rugby)
14 Cassius Cleaves (Harlequins)
13 Joe Jenkins (Bristol Bears)
12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White (Sale Sharks)
11 Alex Wills (Sale Sharks)
10 Connor Slevin (Harlequins)
9 Nye Thomas (Sale Sharks)
1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
2 Craig Wright (Northampton Saints)
3 Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby)
4 Joe Bailey (Exeter)
5 Lewis Chessum (C) (Leicester Tigers)
6 Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins)
7 Nathan Michelow (Saracens)
8 Zach Carr (Harlequins)
Replacements:
16 Nathan Jibulu (Harlequins)
17 Ethan Clarke (Harlequins)
18 James Halliwell (Bristol Bears)
19 Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers)
20 Tristan Woodman (Sale Sharks)
21 Charlie Bracken (Saracens)
22 Louie Johnson (Newcastle)
23 Joseph Woodward (Leicester Tigers)
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