Nine uncapped players make England U20 XV to face Bath

Mark Mapletoft and Andy Titterrell have named nine uncapped players in the England U20 starting XV to take on Bath United tomorrow in Bristol, as they prepare for the U20 Six Nations next month.

Last season’s U18 captain Henry Pollock is set to start at openside flanker alongside captain Nathan Michelow in the back-row. The 18-year-old Pollock is registered with Northampton Saints and Bedford Blues in the Championship, and was named the Saints player of the month in September.

They will face a Bath side at Shaftesbury Park, home of Dings Crusaders, largely comprising academy players and coached by former England senior head coach Andy Robinson. With that said, two-cap England winger and member of Eddie Jones’ 2019 World Cup squad Ruaridh McConnochie is starting on the wing for Bath.

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After naming his side, Mapletoft said: “It’s been a real pleasure to bring this new cohort together over the last week, the boys have showcased a real intent on proving themselves in a game capacity for the first time.

“Our training regime has reflected the intensity we want to arrive with in Saturday’s game with Bath. We know Bath’s capabilities in producing some of the country’s best talent, so this weekend’s meeting is a suitable one for our boys.

“Myself, Andy and the rest of the coaching staff expect a really competitive 80 minutes at Shaftesbury Park. The boys are aware that the U20 Six Nations awaits in a few weeks, but our focus remains on attaining a positive performance on Saturday afternoon.”

England U20 
1 Cameron Miell (Leicester Tigers)
2 Craig Wright (Northampton Saints) *
3 Billy Sela (Bath Rugby)
4 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens)
5 Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs) *
6 Nathan Michelow (C) (Saracens) *
7 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)
8 Lucas Schmid (Harlequins)
9 Ben Douglas (Newcastle Falcons)
10 Rory Taylor (Gloucester Rugby)
11 Sean Kerr (Harlequins)
12 Ben Waghorn (Harlequins) *
13 Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints) *
14 Alex Wills (Sale Sharks) *
15 Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons)

Replacements
16 Scott Kirk (Bath Rugby)
17 Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons)
18 James Halliwell (Bristol Bears) *
19 Junior Kpoku (Racing 92)
20 Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers) *
21 Zach Carr (Harlequins) *
22 Max Blinkhorn (Nottingham University)
23 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins)
24 Ollie Spencer (Newcastle Falcons)
25 Will Glister (Northampton Saints)
26 Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby)
*denotes a player previously capped at U20 level