NEALE HARVEY gets the lowdown on an England squad bristling with talent
Under 20s
England will attack the Six Nations with one of the strongest squads ever assembled as they look to go one better than last year's runners-up slot to France.
Howewer head coach Steve Bates believes that may actually hinder his side's title chances given the likelihood of Premiership clubs recalling players.
Headlined by Harlequins pair Marcus Smith and Cadan Murley, Northampton centre Fraser Dingwall and Worcester back row Ted Hill, no fewer than 11 of Bates' 32-man squad assembling this week have enjoyed serious amounts of first XV rugby this season.
A two-edged sword perhaps but Bates is confident their strength in depth will be sufficient when matches clash with the Premiership.
Bates told The Rugby Paper: “It's an exciting squad; a number of guys have come back from last year and we've also got some younger talent coming through, which is great in terms of our progression.
“A lot of guys have had a good taste of Premiership, Challenge Cup and Prem Cup as well, which is exciting but could also be a massive disadvantage because there's the potential that this team won't play together as much as we'd like it to.
“But that's what the pathway is about – developing these players, giving them an opportunity to be the centre of attention and handing them the responsibility to take charge and be noticed, which is great preparation for playing senior first team rugby.
“It's no surprise that a lot of their clubs are giving them chances because the experiences of being in the U20s gives them an edge. We've had good conversations with the Premiership clubs, but we still expect to lose some players during the tournament.”
Bates has planned for all contingencies, adding: “Last season we used nearly 40 players in the Six Nations so, in addition to our 32-man squad, we had a look at a dozen others last week who aren't in there but could come in and stake a claim.”
Does Bates feel the current U20s squad is England's strongest ever? “It's difficult to say if it's the strongest because we've enjoyed success in the past and, in the last two years, we've had guys like Ben Earl, Zach Mercer, Ben Curry and Ted Hill. In terms of experience coming back from last year, though, we're in a very strong position. There's a really good balance between experienced, powerful forwards and a number of exciting backs – with huge potential for all of them to develop quickly.”
England, who meet Ireland this Friday, have held two training camps but club commitments mean this is the first time the full squad has assembled.
Bates, who is being assisted by Mark Hopley, Richard Whiffin and James Scaysbrook, added: “One of the challenges ahead of Ireland is around managing the emotional side of preparing an international team in a short period of time. But the coaches have built good relationships with the players and I don't see any issues there.”
SQUADS
Olly Adkins, Josh Basham, Will Capon, Richard Capstick, Alex Coles, Nic Dolly, James Dun, Joe Heyes, Ted Hill, Aaron Hinkley, Joel Kpoku, Samson Ma'asi, Kai Owen, James Scott, Marcus Street, Tom Willis, Tom De Glanville, Fraser Dingwall, Connor Doherty, Ollie Fox, Tom Hardwick, Ollie Hassell-Collins, Josh Hodge, Ollie Lawrence, Sam Maunder, Cadan Murley, Cameron Redpath, Arron Reed, Ollie Sleightholme, Marcus Smith, Gus Warr, Kieran Wilkinson
FRANCE U20
Rayne Barka, Giorgi Beria, Paul Boudehent, Akim Bouzhir, Alex Burin, Louis Carbonel, Alexandre De Nardi, Julien Delbouis, Quentin Delord, Simon Desaubies, Erwan Dridi, Ethan Dumortier, Eli Eglaine, Kilian Geraci, Baptiste Germain, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Thibault Hamonou, Mathieu Hirigoyen, Jordan Joseph, Pierre Jutge, Thomas Lavault, Matthis Lebel, Maxence Lemardelet, Gauthier Maravat, Yoram Moefana, Vincent Pinto, Mathis Sarragallet, Mathieu Smaili, Cheikh Tiberghien, Florent Vanverberghe, Kevin Viallard, Arthur Vincent, Sacha Zegueur, Sami Zouhair
IRELAND U20
Azur Allison, Ryan Baird, Tom Clarkson, Giuseppe Coyne, Brian Deeny, John Hodnett, Paddy Kelly, Ryan Lomas, Luke Masters, David McCann, JJ McKee, John McKee, Michael Milne, Martin Moloney, Niall Murray, Scott Penny, Charlie Ryan, Billy Scannell, Dylan Tierney Martin, Ronan Watters, Josh Wycherley, Harry Byrne, Craig Casey, Jake Flannery, Sean French, Cormac Foley, David Hawkshaw, Ben Healy, Bruce Houston, Iwan Hughes, Angus Kernohan, James McCarthy, Stewart Moore, Oli Morris, Aaron O'Sullivan, Conor Phillips, Colm Reilly, Rob Russell, Liam Turner, Jonathan Wren
ITALY U20
Filippo Alongi, Luca Franceschetto, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Matteo Nocera, Matteo Drudi, Niccolo Taddia, Marco Butturini, Thomas Parolo, Nicolae Cristian Stoian, Andrea Chianucci, Mirco Finotto, Antoine Koffi, Angelo Maurizi, Davide Ruggeri, Alessandro Fusco, Gianmarco Piva, Giacomo Da Re, Paolo Garbisi, Damiano Mazza, Federico Mori, Matteo Moscardi, Edoardo Mastandrea, Michael Mba, Jacopo Trulla
SCOTLAND U20
Andrew Nimmo, Murphy Walker, Sam Grahamslaw, Will Hurd, Euan McLaren, Angus Fraser, Ewan Ashman, Finlay Scott, Cameron Henderson, Charlie Jupp, Ewan Johnson, Teddy Leatherbarrow, Connor Boyle, Jack Hill, Jack Mann, Cristen van Niekerk, Ross Bundy, Kyle McGhie, Roan Frostwick, Murray Scott, Ross Thompson, Nathan Chamberlain, Andrew Jardine, Cameron Anderson, Grant Hughes, Robbie McCallum, Ollie Smith, Jacob Lineen, Matt Davidson, Jack Blain, Rory McMichael, Rufus McLean
WALES U20
Tom Devine, Rhys Davies, Ben Warren, Kemsley Mathias, Nick English, Dewi Lake, Cameron Lewis, Will Griffiths, Jac Price, Teddy Williams, Morgan Jones, Ed Scragg, Iestyn Rees, Ellis Thomas, Tommy Reffell, Jac Morgan, Taine Basham, Harri Morgan, Jamie Hill, Dafydd Buckland, Cai Evans, Sam Costelow, Aneurin Owen, Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, Tom Hoppe, Dewi Cross, Deon Smith, Caine Woolerton Ospreys), Rio Dyer, Alex Morgan, Tomi Lewis, Ioan Davies
