Analysis - What you need to know about England's U20 Squad
The 2017/18 England U20 Elite Player Squad was named on Wednesday afternoon and it brought with it plenty of unfamiliar faces.
The squad will be under the leadership of Steve Bates, with a coaching team of Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers), Richard Blaze and James Ponton (Newcastle Falcons), and the side will be aiming to defend their U20 Six Nations title over the next two months, before attempting to make it to their sixth-straight final at the World Rugby U20 Championship in the summer.
Your England U20 Elite Player Squad for the 2017/18 season: https://t.co/JPqxNj6q4B pic.twitter.com/Z1XeQcgxrH
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) January 3, 2018
We take you inside the squad, position group by position group, and try to shine a light on some of the newer faces in the group and give you an insight into their chances of featuring this season.
Front-row – Beck Cutting (Worcester Warriors), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Joe Morris (Worcester Warriors), Gabriel Oghre (Wasps), Alex Seville (Gloucester), Marcus Street (Exeter Chiefs), Toby Trinder (Northampton Saints) and Henry Walker (Gloucester)
There has been plenty of upheaval in the front-row, with props Ollie Dawe and Ralph Adams-Hale and hooker Joe Mullis graduating from the side and Ciaran Knight, whom is still eligible, not included.
At hooker, Walker won the battle last season with Jamie Blamire and Curtis Langdon and returns from that group for another year, where he is joined by Cutting, a graduate from that campaign’s England U18 side, and Oghre, a player who was a surprising omission at U20 level last season. It’s a competitive hooker group and if Blaze can iron out the lineout inconsistencies that plagued the side last season, it should provide a solid foundation for the rest of the pack and the back line.
Amongst the props, Seville and Morris return from last season, as does Street, who was an U18 at the time and fast-tracked into the U20 set-up. Seville will be a good bet to start at loosehead, with Street alongside him on the tighthead, whilst new boys Heyes and Trinder should offer competition with Morris.
Second-row – Josh Basham (London Irish), Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors), Dino Lamb (Harlequins) and James Scott (Worcester Warriors)
Nick Isiekwe is the obvious omission here, due to his involvements with the senior England side, but Josh Caulfield, Justin Clegg and Max Davies have all moved on, too, as has hybrid back-rower Jack Nay.
This is another group packed with hybrid players and Basham, Hill and Lamb have all played plenty of rugby in the back-row and will help keep up the recent trend of the England U20s trying to play fast, high-tempo rugby.
Lamb featured strongly for the U20s last season, whilst Hill had a small cameo as a 17-year-old during the U20 Six Nations, memorably dump tackling an Italian prop in his first action of the game, but this will be the first experiences at this level for Basham and Scott.
One of the keys will be getting the lineout running smoothly, something England struggled with last season when Isiekwe was required by Saracens or the England senior side.
Back-row – Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Ben Earl (Saracens), Sam Lewis (Leicester Tigers), Sam Moore (Sale Sharks) and Tom Willis (Wasps)
The group looks a little threadbare on paper, especially if Sale and Saracens retain Curry and Earl, which is a definite possibility, but as mentioned earlier, the second-row is packed with hybrid players and hooker Oghre is very comfortable playing on the flank, too.
Tom Curry is unavailable due to his injury and senior England commitments, whilst the trio of Zach Mercer, Will Evans and Josh Bayliss are all now ineligible. The back-row was arguably the greatest strength of the side last season and this year’s crop have big boots to fill.
Lewis is the closest thing to an archetypal openside in the squad, with new additions Moore and Willis offering frightening power as ball-carriers. If England are looking to dominate the gain-line, opting for the pair at six and eight will ensure them plenty of front-foot ball.
Moore is highly-thought of outside of England, too, and we have it on good authority that he turned down a senior cap for Wales against Georgia in the autumn internationals a couple of months ago.
Half-backs – Rory Brand (London Irish), James Grayson (Northampton Saints), Tom Hardwick (Leicester Tigers), Joe Snow (Exeter Chiefs) and Ben White (Leicester Tigers)
Scrum-halves Harry Randall and Alex Mitchell have graduated from the side, leaving Brand as the only nine with U20 experience in the squad, whilst none of the fly-halves in the initial squad from last season remain, though Grayson did feature for the side when Max Malins was required by Saracens.
Malins and Theo Brophy Clews are no longer eligible, Marcus Smith is busy with Harlequins and the England senior side and Jacob Umaga has not been included, creating plenty of questions about how this new-look group will dovetail.
White may have not played U20 rugby before, but he has his fair share of senior rugby experience, having featured intermittently for Leicester over the last couple of years. As for Snow, he has turned in some impressive performances for Exeter U18s, but will be probably seen as the developmental guy behind Brand and White.
This should be a good opportunity for Grayson and Hardwick who, perhaps unfairly, will always be compared to Smith, having come out of school rugby in the same year as the Quins youngster, but this is a showcase for them to make a name for themselves.
Centres – Will Butler (Worcester Warriors), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins), Jordan Olowofela (Leicester Tigers) and Matt Williams (London Irish)
Butler and Ibitoye are the constants here from last season, albeit with Ibitoye used on the wing by England in that campaign. He could still feature there and was a Junior World Player of the Year nominee, after all, but he is more than capable of playing outside centre and it could be the position he calls home in the long-term.
The graduations of Dom Morris and Max Wright, as well the non-selection of Umaga, create space for Dingwall, Olowofela and Williams.
Dingwall comes straight into the side from the England U18s, where he had a very productive couple of seasons, whilst Olowofela and Williams are both in their second year of eligibility, but bring plenty of speed to a back line that, if given front-foot and quick ball, will run plenty of teams off their feet.
Olowofela is the twin brother of Ryan Olowofela, who is currently in the England 7s set-up.
Back-three – Aaron Chapman (Bristol), Ali Crossdale (Saracens), Ben Loader, Tom Parton (both London Irish) and Tom Seabrook (Gloucester)
Parton would seem to be the leading man for the 15 jersey, if fit, having done a very accomplished job there last season, whilst Crossdale is the other carryover from 2016/17, having featured on the wing. He has a fly-half’s skill set and though he could well continue on the wing, he could also rotate with Parton at 15.
The theme of speed in this England side continues with Chapman, Loader and Seabrook, all of whom will fancy themselves in one-on-one situations with ball-in-hand, and arrive off the back of successful U18 seasons at club and country level.
If one of the trio can put their hand up to feature alongside Crossdale and Parton in the back three, it provides a good case for moving Ibitoye to outside centre and giving the rookie fly-halves a relatively experienced midfield outside of them.
Regardless of how the preferred XV might look, all three should get an opportunity this season and they will be worth watching. Loader is the prototypical wing for the modern game and is already earning playing time with Irish, whilst Seabrook ran in tries for fun in the U18 league last season.
It’s worth noting that Seabrook is a hybrid guy who can play in the 13 spot, too, if required and is another example of the players with multi-positional skill sets that the U20s prize so highly and that the U18s – club and country – have done such a successful job of producing in recent years.
Comments on RugbyPass
Big difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to comments