Three points clear of France at the top of the table, Mark Mapletoft’s squad are on the cusp of age-grade Grand Slam glory for the first time since 2021.
Racing 92 flanker Junior Kpoku has been restored to the England U20 starting line-up for their U20 Six Nations encounter with Scotland in Newcastle on Friday.
England U20 head coach Mark Mapletoft has made two changes to his side for the second-round meeting with France in Bath on Friday.
Northampton Saints flanker Henry Pollock is set to start for England U20 on Thursday against Ireland U20 at Cork's Virgin Media Park in the first match of their U20 Six Nations title defence.
Saracens player ratings: A dark day for former European heavyweights Saracens, who fell to an embarrassing 32-24 home defeat to an understrength Castres outfit.
Saracens suffered a surprising 29-19 defeat to Ealing Trailfinders in their Premiership Rugby Cup opener at Trailfinders Sports Club.
Round six of the Gallagher Premiership promises to deliver another thrilling weekend of action, with teams looking to solidify their positions ahead of a break before the Test rugby returns in November.
If the double doesn’t materialise, though, he doesn’t want people judging the RFU’s pathway programme based on a single result in South Africa versus an opposition gunning to collect its fourth U20 Championship title in a row.
Mark Mapletoft’s side demonstrated their ability to squeeze teams in that last four success, holding the Irish scoreless in the second half to win 31-20 after leading 22-20 at the interval.
The reigning age-grade Six Nations champions completed their Pool C campaign with a gruelling 17-12 win over South Africa last Tuesday at Athlone.