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International

A dozen 2024 champions named in new 50-man England U20s EPS squad

By Liam Heagney

61 days ago

England celebrate their 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship final win (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Mark Mapletoft has included a dozen of last season’s double-winning England U20s squad in his group for the 2024/25 campaign that will competitively begin with their January 30 Six Nations fixture away to Ireland. It was last March when the class of 2023/24 clinched the championship with a win away in France and they followed up that success by securing World Cup glory in July in South Africa.

Five players who started in that 21-13 final win over the French in Cape Town – Benjamin Coen, Kane James, Ben Redshaw, Henry Pollock and Angus Hall – have all been named in Mapletoft’s new squad. Showpiece decider subs Olamide Sodeke, Jack Bracken, Josh Bellamy and Lucas Friday are also included along with Jacob Oliver, Archie McParland and Billy Sela, three other players capped last term.

Absent from the squad on this occasion is the Racing 92-based Junior Kpoku, another starter from last July’s final who is still underage for the U20s grade, but a newcomer that will catch the eye is Bath’s Tyler Offiah, the son of rugby league legend Martin.

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A statement read: “Head coach Mark Mapletoft and assistant coach Andy Titterrell, who guided the U20 men to success in the 2024 U20 Six Nations and World Rugby U20 Championship, return for their respective second and fifth seasons of involvement leading the team.

“The recent men’s professional game partnership established the expanded EPS to enable greater playing opportunities in the international arena for those in the ‘confirmation’ phase of the pathway development system.

“The player pathway programme at England Rugby is a vital structural foundation to develop the future of international rugby in England; with 30 of the 36 senior men’s touring party to New Zealand and Japan this summer previously capped in the men’s pathway age-grades.

“The largely refreshed cohort includes 12 previously-capped U20 internationals that achieved the ‘double’ silverware in the respective continental and inter-continental championships.

“Benjamin Coen and Kane James of Exeter Chiefs, Newcastle Falcons’ Jacob Oliver and Ben Redshaw, Archie McParland and Henry Pollock (both Northampton Saints), Saracens trio Olamide Sodeke, Jack Bracken and Angus Hall, Vilikesa Sela (Bath Rugby), and Josh Bellamy and Lucas Friday of Harlequins all rejoin the team this term.

“Mapletoft’s fresh intake includes a further 32 squad members boasting previous pathway caps who have now graduated into the U20 programme, including recent U18 men’s captain and Premiership Rugby U18 Academy League winner Connor Treacey. Six new players are welcomed into the England men’s pathway as previously uncapped age-grade players.

Mapletoft said: “I’d like to congratulate all members of our EPS on their inclusion in this season’s group. As this year has shown, it’s an incredibly exciting time to be an England rugby fan and these players are already intent on making the U20 shirts theirs.

“The ability to select more players this year not only shines a light on the breadth of talent that is being produced in this country, but it also ensures these young men receive the best possible experiences and learnings to progress as rugby players and as people.

“Our determination to constantly evolve and front up was testament to the character fostered by last year’s group. Whilst their cycle concludes, the key principles we implement throughout our pathway are a continuous process and I have every confidence this squad can replicate the successes of their predecessors.”

England U20s 2024/25 elite player squad
Forwards (27):
Aiden Ainsworth-Cave (Northampton Saints)
Charlie Barker (Saracens)
Oscar Beckerleg (Exeter Chiefs)
Thomas Burrow (Sale Sharks)
Tom Dye (Northampton Saints)
Lucas Gulley (Exeter Chiefs)
Reggie Hammick (Saracens)
Kane James (Exeter Chiefs) *
Seb Kelly (Sale Sharks)
Jack Lightbown (Sale Sharks)
Reuben Logan (Northampton Saints)
Alfie Longstaff (Sale Sharks)
Josh Mann (Exeter Chiefs)
Ralph McEachran (Sale Sharks)
Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons) *
Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints) *
Tye Raymont (Sale Sharks)
Oliver Scola (Northampton Saints)
Vilikesa Sela (Bath Rugby) *
Olamide Sodeke (Saracens) *
Jimmy Staples (Harlequins)
Ollie Streeter (Harlequins)
George Timmins (Bath Rugby)
Connor Treacey (Bath Rugby)
Kepu Tuipulotu (Bath Rugby)
Charlie West (Saracens)
Samuel Williams (Leicester Tigers)

Backs (23):
Nicholas Allison (Exeter Chiefs)
Josh Bellamy (Harlequins) *
Jack Bracken (Saracens) *
Conor Byrne (Harlequins)
Benjamin Coen (Exeter Chiefs) *
Ollie Davies (Sale Sharks)
Lucas Friday (Harlequins) *
William Glister (Northampton Saints)
Charlie Griffin (Bath Rugby)
Angus Hall (Saracens) *
Dom Hanson (Sale Sharks)
Jack Kinder (Leicester Tigers)
Nick Lilley (Exeter Chiefs)
Frank McMillan (Harlequins)
Archie McParland (Northampton Saints) *
Charlie Myall (Leicester Tigers)
Gethin O’Callaghan (Bristol Bears)
Tyler Offiah (Bath Rugby)
George Pearson (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons) *
Campbell Ridl (Exeter Chiefs)
Jonny Weimann (Northampton Saints)
Toby Wilson (Sale Sharks)
*denotes a player capped in a competitive U20 fixture

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Comments on RugbyPass

J Marc 26 minutes ago

'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Your unterstanding of the relation FFR LNR, is far better than the one in the article. For Meafou, there is an article on Skelton saying he is totally indispensable in the australian game.

In France they are often compared, and french game is often, but not always ,based on this kind of number 5. But , there are a lot of kind of play in France and in the world, and it's a blessing, because otherwise, the game would be boring.

On my other post ,which you replied, my intention was to explain with some historics facts the main importance, in France, of the championship.

But ,once again, I would prefer 3 games in NZ , with the better french players.

287 Go to comments

Ninjin 44 minutes ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

I said before the November tests that the AB's should go smash some Nh teams to find their feet and it seems that is just what they did bar France. Could have should have always sucks. Better to look to the future.

19 Go to comments

OJohn 45 minutes ago

David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

And there it is, the game just given away. Thanks.

18 Go to comments

OJohn 46 minutes ago

David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

The nationality of the coach is important to kiwis and south africans and the french.

Not coincidentally the teams in world rugby who play with the most passion.

Why is it not allowed to be important for Australians ?

18 Go to comments

Oh no, not him again? 47 minutes ago

Tyrone Green decision has huge bearing on his international future

He'd make a great John C Reilly impersonator though. Someone call his agent. 🙃

2 Go to comments

OM 2 hours ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

On behalf of New Zealand, I apologise for Ben Smith.

19 Go to comments

Mitch 2 hours ago

David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

No doubt they liked Rennie but a 38% win record is hard to defend.

18 Go to comments

Red and White Dynamight 2 hours ago

Pablo Matera returns from ban as Argentina change 3 for Ireland

Incorrect. Matera plays mostly on blindside incl for Crusaders when they won title in 2022. Pumas tend to play their flankers left and right rather than 6/7 but Matera is involved in set pieces mostly on blindside channel.

3 Go to comments

Cantab 3 hours ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

It is true that some of the ABs losses were unlucky but it must also be conceded that some of their wins were equally fortuitous and even out overall. I firmly believe that provided the team takes stock of their shortcomings and remedy them while building on the positive, they will return to being the juggernaut of past glories. They are not that far off and Razor has largely developed a side which is capable of not only winning a world cup but returning to the top of world rankings. Boks beware as uneasy the head that wears the crown.

19 Go to comments

DrinkAwayTheConcussion 3 hours ago

Sadness pervades as Gatland stands on the brink of Welsh exit

As if we’d let such an obvious double agent ploy work on us lol.

Tell me, who was just appointed head coach of Australia’s Men’s 7s…???

15 Go to comments

PA 3 hours ago

David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

Campo , why don't you try Coaching?

Give Schmidt a chance to prove himself. Schmidt is a professional Coach who has done the hard yards. Give him the opportunity to prove himself. At present he's on the right track and getting better all the time. Don't bring the fact that he's a Kiwi, that's irrelevant. What's relevant is getting the best performance and results for rugby and Australia.

18 Go to comments

DrinkAwayTheConcussion 3 hours ago

David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

None. Aussie coaches suck. But who are the 6 Australians better than Schmidtoh?

18 Go to comments

Jen 3 hours ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

You Bok fans must get sick of reading this stuff, honestly. They're a great team. Our ABs just need to play better and take the ref out of the equation.

19 Go to comments

Jen 3 hours ago

Let's be real about these All Blacks

Our rivalry with the Boks is special. I can live with getting smashed by an excellent SA side. NOONE ELSE THOUGH. Losing to Engerland is not okay.

19 Go to comments

JW 3 hours ago

'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

PS, the only thing I could find on SA contractual changes was a while ago. I'm sure I was reading something more recent that was saying SARU are only involved with their PONI players. And as per above, 'private' doesn't mean billionaire owners in my book, just independant.

287 Go to comments

JW 3 hours ago

'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.

Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').

LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.

For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.

He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?

As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

287 Go to comments

Longshanks 3 hours ago

The Wallabies have a serious problem

No love for Ollie Hoskins? Decent Aussie tighthead playing for Saracens

11 Go to comments

DrinkAwayTheConcussion 3 hours ago

Despite defeat in Paris, the real reason the All Blacks are feeling upbeat

I don’t agree with everything there, but I fear you may be right about Ardie.

Moana Pasifika are not a New Zealand franchise officially, which means they can play Ardie for 80 minutes each week if they want to.

And they’ll want to.

And it is rare to see players come back from Japan in equal or better form when they left.

Jerome Kaino and Michael Hooper are the only two I can think of.