Three Saracens named in England U20 Six Nations Opener
Jack Bracken, Angus Hall and Olamide Sodeke all start for England this Thursday in the Six Nations curtain raiser as England U20 travel to Cork to face Ireland U20.
Head coach Mark Mapletoft has confirmed his England U20 Men’s matchday squad to face Ireland in the opening fixture of the 2025 U20 Six Nations.
The reigning champions travel to Cork this Thursday (30th) for a Round 1 encounter against Neil Doak’s side at Virgin Media Park. The match will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer.
Sale Sharks’ Tom Burrow will take the captaincy for the first gameweek of the competition having led the U19 Men in 2024, as well as the U20 Men in their recent uncapped fixture against Cambridge Rugby. The lock, who earned his Sharks debut this season, will make his first competitive U20 start this Thursday.
Leicester Tigers’ Jack Kinder, Nic Allison (Exeter Chiefs), Ralph McEachran (Sale Sharks) and Charlie Griffin and Kepu Tuipulotu of Bath Rugby will also earn their full competitive debuts for the U20 Men’s side.
Henry Pollock joins up with the U20 squad after training with Steve Borthwick’s senior men in Girona over the last week. The Northampton Saints forward starts at openside flanker alongside fellow 2024 U20 Six Nations and World Rugby U20 Championship winners, Junior Kpoku (Racing 92) and Kane James (Exeter Chiefs) in the back-row.
Five of the selected eight replacements could also earn their U20 Men’s debut at Virgin Media Park, with previously capped George Timmins (Bath Rugby) and Harlequins’ Lucas Friday and Josh Bellamy also amongst the reinforcements.
England U20 Men’s previous encounter with Ireland saw Mapletoft’s team emerge 31-20 victors in Cape Town following a thrilling 32-all tie in last year’s U20 Six Nations.
Mark Mapletoft said: “As a team, we want to take a relentless approach from minute one and make our mark on the Six Nations once again this year.
“Coming into the tournament as previous winners is a privilege, but the highest level of expectation will come from the players themselves who want to play with freedom and uphold our principles of speed, attachment and space.
“The squad have been working diligently to match our demands of them and are ready for a tough opening challenge in Ireland. We’ve had some exciting matchups in recent times, and we know we’ll have another testing game against Neil’s [Doak] side this week.”
England U20 Men team to face Ireland (includes current club, community club and U20 caps)
15 Jack Kinder (Leicester Tigers, Silhillians RUFC, uncapped)
14 Jack Bracken (Saracens, Barnet Elizabethans, 5 caps)
13 Angus Hall (Saracens, Sevenoaks Rugby Club, 6 caps)
12 Nic Allison (Exeter Chiefs, Bishops Diocesan College, uncapped)
11 Charlie Griffin (Bath Rugby, Rosslyn Park, uncapped)
10 Ben Coen (Exeter Chiefs, Teignmouth RFC, 5 caps)
9 Archie McParland (Northampton Saints, Ruthin RFC, 5 caps)
1 Ralph McEachran (Sale Sharks, Guildford RFC, uncapped)
2 Kepu Tuipulotu (Bath Rugby, Cwmbran RFC, uncapped)
3 Vilikesa Sela (Bath Rugby, Royal Wootton Bassett RFC, 9 caps)
4 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens, Blackheath Rugby Club, 11 caps)
5 Tom Burrow (c) (Sale Sharks, Morley RUFC, uncapped)
6 Junior Kpoku (Racing 92, Saracens Amateurs, 11 caps)
7 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, Buckingham Rugby Club, 12 caps)
8 Kane James (Exeter Chiefs, St. Peter’s RFC, 9 caps)
Replacements
16 Louie Gulley (Exeter Chiefs, Crediton RFC, uncapped)
17 Oli Scola (Northampton Saints, Old Northamptonians RFC, uncapped)
18 Tye Raymont (Sale Sharks, West Park Leeds RFC, uncapped)
19 Aiden Ainsworth-Cave (Northampton Saints, Bedford Junior Blues, uncapped)
20 George Timmins (Bath Rugby, Market Harborough RUFC, 2 caps)
21 Lucas Friday (Harlequins, Bromley RFC, 6 caps)
22 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins, Rosslyn Park, 10 caps)
23 Nick Lilley (Exeter Chiefs, Ivybridge RFC, uncapped)
