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England U20s announce 45-man training squad for 2020 season

By Alex Shaw
England U20s hooker Alfie Barbeary. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Fresh on the heels of confirming Jonathan Pendlebury and Alan Dickens as England U18 and U20 head coaches respectively, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) have announced a 45-man training squad for the upcoming U20s season.

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The 45-man group will convene at Bisham Abbey on Thursday for a three-day camp, in which Dickens will attempt to whittle the group down to a 32-man elite player squad ahead of England’s opening U20 Six Nations fixture against France in Grenoble on February 1st.

Their schedule will mirror that of the senior side, with the team also facing away trips to Edinburgh to take on Scotland and Verona to play Italy, whilst they will host Ireland at Franklin’s Gardens and Wales at Kingsholm. From there, the age-grade side will begin preparations for next summer’s World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy, a tournament they uncharacteristically struggled in earlier this year.

Of the 45-man squad, eight have already featured for the U20s, with the likes of Alfie Barbeary, Ollie Sleightholme, Richard Capstick, Josh Hodge, Sam Maunder, Rus Tuima and Manu Vunipola among those returning for another shot at success. Barbeary, whose talent and prospects have long been talked about, featured for the group as an U18 whilst still at school last season, although his campaign ended in ignominy when he received a red card against Ireland for lifting a player and failing to return him to the ground safely. He will look to banish those memories over the course of his first professional season.

Sleightholme, Capstick, Maunder and Vunipola all bring a fair amount of Gallagher Premiership rugby experience to the mix and will provide leadership to what is a relatively young squad. They are not the only second-year players in the group, however, with the likes of JJ Tonks, Charlie Watson, Hugh Tizard, Barrie Karea and Ben Donnell all involved, despite not having been a part of a capped game in 2019.

The most represented Premiership clubs in the squad are Northampton Saints (6) and Sale Sharks (6), followed closely by Leicester Tigers (5), Saracens (5) and London Irish (5). The only sides with no representation are Bristol Bears and Worcester Warriors.

The final decision on the 32-man squad will be made in January.

England U20 45-man training squad in full:

Lennox Anyanwu – Harlequins

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Alfie Barbeary – Wasps

George Barton – Gloucester

Harvey Beaton – Saracens

Joseph Browning – Leicester Tigers

Richard Capstick – Exeter Chiefs

Joseph Carpenter – Sale Sharks

Jack Clement – Gloucester

Phil Cokanasiga – London Irish

Tom Curtis – Sale Sharks

Theo Dan – Saracens

Connor Doherty – Sale Sharks

Ben Donnell – London Irish

Callum Ford – Sale Sharks

Thomas Freeman – Northampton Saints

Josh Gillespie – Northampton Saints

Josh Gray – Gloucester

Luke Green – London Irish

Gabriel Hamer-Webb – Bath

George Hammond – Harlequins

Will Haydon-Wood – Newcastle Falcons

Josh Hodge – Newcastle Falcons

Emmanuel Iyogun – Northampton Saints

Barrie Karea – Exeter Chiefs

George Martin – Leicester Tigers

Sam Maunder – Exeter Chiefs

Nahum Merigan – Bath

Chunya Munga – London Irish

Zachery Nearchou – Wasps

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Oliver Newman – Northampton Saints

Max Ojomoh – Bath

Raphael Quirke – Sale Sharks

Sam Riley – Harlequins

Tom Roebuck- Sale Sharks

Fin Rossiter – London Irish

Oliver Sleightholme – Northampton Saints

Freddie Steward – Leicester Tigers

Oliver Stonham – Saracens

Hugh Tizard – Harlequins

Jarett Tonks – Northampton Saints

Rusitate Tuima – Exeter Chiefs

Jack Van Poortvliet – Leicester Tigers

Manu Vunipola – Saracens

Charlie Watson – Saracens

James Whitcombe – Leicester Tigers

Watch: Attack coach Scott Wisemantel leaves England. Australia up next?

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Trevor 12 minutes ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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