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Where are they now: The 2014 England U20 world champions
England made it back-to-back victories at the World Rugby Under-20s Championship in 2014, defeating South Africa 21-20 in the final in New Zealand.
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Members of both teams lined up against each other in the World Cup final five years later in Japan. Thomas du Toit, Jesse Kriel and Warrick Gelant all make the squad for the 2019 showcase, with Handre Pollard playing an instrumental part in the Springboks’ victory over the English in Yokohama.
Here’s what happened to the victorious England age-grade team of 2014:
15. Aaron Morris
England’s full-back was a Saracens player at the time, but he made the move to Harlequins in 2016. His game time in south-west London has steadily increased and he has seen a lot of action this season due to a spate of injuries at the club, particularly Mike Brown’s long-term knee problem.
14. Howard Packman
The former England Sevens and Northampton Saints winger recently played for North Otago in New Zealand’s Heartland Championship.
13. Nick Tompkins
A popular figure at Saracens for a number of seasons now, with a keen eye for the try line, he was picked up by Wayne Pivac’s Wales this year and went on to have an impressive Six Nations at outside centre. Despite featuring for England Saxons in 2016, he was never called upon by Eddie Jones, and Wales look to be the beneficiaries.
12. Harry Sloan
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A member of the victorious Un20s squad the year before, he started at outside centre in the 2013 final against Wales. Since then, the ex-Harlequins centre had stints with Ealing and London Scottish in the Championship before making a permanent switch to Trailfinders in 2018.
11. Nathan Earle
The Harlequins winger made the move across London from Saracens in 2018 in the hope of more regular game time. This proved to be a wise choice, as he established himself in Paul Gustard’s side in a promising first season in which he was one of the Premiership’s most deadly finishers. Having toured with England in Argentina in 2017, a Test call-up may have been on the cards last season, but a devastating anterior cruciate ligament injury in April was a major setback.
10. Billy Burns
After coming through the Gloucester ranks and establishing himself as the starting fly-half at Kingsholm, he joined Ulster in 2018 knowing he was eligible to play for Ireland. He was called up to Andy Farrell’s Six Nations squad this year and although he has not yet been capped, it looks likely to happen in the future.
9. Henry Taylor
Having made the switch from Saracens to Northampton last summer, his profile has been raised this season. An injury to Alex Mitchell, along with Cobus Reinach’s World Cup duty with South Africa, meant the scrum-half thrived with more exposure under the tutelage of Chris Boyd.
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8. James Chisholm
A fixture at Harlequins, the dynamic back row now plays mostly at blindside flanker due to the emergence of Alex Dombrandt at the club. Following the 2014 success, he went on to be named the World Rugby U20s Championship player of the year in 2015 as well as Harlequins’ players’ player of the year in 2017.
7. Gus Jones
The ex-Wasps flanker has played for London Welsh and Oxford University since the 2014 triumph.
6. Ross Moriarty
Another who was part of the victorious 2013 starting XV, he is no longer representing England having made his Test debut for Wales in 2015 under Warren Gatland. The bruising enforcer is now a mainstay in the Welsh squad, covering both blindside flanker and No8 and toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2017.
5. Charlie Ewels
The Bath lock made his England debut two-and-a-half years after the U20s victory, playing in the 2016 November internationals under Jones. In probably England’s strongest position, he has been in and out of the squad sporadically since then, earning 15 caps (six starting), but he re-emerged in this year’s Six Nations.
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4. Maro Itoje
England’s age-grade captain in 2014 and a player that needs no introduction as he has gone on to become a world rugby superstar. Since making his Test debut in 2016, the lock has simply been undroppable, even playing in all three Lions Tests against the All Blacks in 2017. An England captain in waiting and the only player from the 2014 squad to play against the Springboks in the 2019 RWC final.
3. Paul Hill
Northampton’s tighthead made his England Test debut in the 2016 Six Nations and featured in the victorious whitewash of Australia later that year. However, he is yet to win another cap, his Test career getting curtailed by various injuries.
2. Tom Woolstencroft
The ex-Bath and London Irish hooker made the move to Saracens in 2018, winning the Champions Cup and Gallagher Premiership in his first season.
1. Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi
A sub in 2013’s success, the ex-Northampton loosehead made the starting XV a year later. He moved to London Irish in 2016 and now frequently features in the Premiership.
Bench
16. Jack Walker, 17. Alex Lundberg, 18. Biyi Alo, 19. Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 20. Joel Conlon, 21. Callum Braley, 22. Sam Olver, 23. Henry Purdy
The replacements contained some regular faces in the Premiership today, but Callum Braley is the only player to have been capped internationally so far and has earned eight caps for Italy. Ex-Exeter and Saracens flanker Joel Conlon was forced to retire in 2018 at the age of 24 because of a neck injury.
WATCH: Ben Foden chats to Jim Hamilton in the latest episode of The Lockdown, the new RugbyPass series
Comments on RugbyPass
“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to comments