England out to strike 'fear' into New Zealand U20 ahead of rare meeting

England U20 head coach Andy Titterrell admits that his side will be gunning to go out on a high against New Zealand in the 2026 World Rugby Junior World Championship third-place play-off final in Georgia on Saturday afternoon.

Titterrell has brought Northampton Saints scrum-half Jonny Weimann in for his first U20 start this season, while Saracens inside centre Finn Keylock, Saints openside Jack Lewis and Leicester Tigers No. 8 George Marsh come into the side beaten by South Africa.

Saracens’ Alan Poku and Zac Finch, alongside Gloucester Rugby’s Freddie Ogden-Metherell and Kealan Freeman-Price are named on the bench and could make their first appearances since a 68-40 Matchday 2 victory over the USA.

Titterrell points out that it will be the first time that England have played the Baby Blacks in almost a decade, and he wants his side to go out and enjoy the rare experience.

“The lads are in a really good spot, which is easy for me to say because I’m not the one getting battered every five days and then having to recover and train. The one thing I want our team to be is a team that fights for everything.

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And don’t go around kicking stones if we find ourselves a score down. That’s shown throughout the whole season, through the Six Nations as well as the World Cup. The boys will fight for each other.

“We’ve still got an international play on Saturday, and it’s a privilege for those boys to put on an England shirt. So I think we’re going to be absolutely gunning for it and will go out there and go really hard at them. We’ve only played them about six times.

“And last time was about nine years ago, and they’ve got to be able to cope with us and fear us. So, it’s a brilliant opportunity for the guys to put on another England shirt and to play an international, and they’ve got to take pride in playing for their country,” he said.

England U20 XV: 15. George Pearson (Leicester Tigers), 14. Tyler Offiah (Bath Rugby), 13. Nick Lilley (Exeter Chiefs), 12. Finn Keylock (Saracens), 11. Sam Winters (Bath Rugby); 10. Hugh Shields (Northampton U18), 9. Jonny Weimann (Northampton Saints); 1. Oliver Scola (Northampton Saints), 2. Jimmy Staples (Harlequins), 3. Ollie Streeter (Harlequins), 4. Elliot Williams (Harlequins), 5. Aiden Ainsworth-Cave (captain, Northampton Saints), 6. Tate Williams (Harlequins), 7. Jack Lewis (Northampton Saints), 8. George Marsh (Leicester Tigers)
Replacements: 16. Jerold Gorleku (Harlequins), 17. Alan Poku (Saracens), 18. Sonny Tonga’uiha (Northampton Saints), 19. Freddie Ogden-Metherell (Gloucester Rugby), 20. Kealan Freeman-Price (Gloucester Rugby), 21. Lucas Friday (Harlequins), 22. Will Knight (Gloucester Rugby), 23. Zac Finch (Saracens)