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Atkinson, Bailey and Quirke lead the charge as England name U20s Six Nations squad
By Kim Ekin
England U20s boss Alan Dickens has named a 32-man squad for the 2021 Six Nations Championship taking place in Cardiff later this month. Six players have been capped previously at U20 level: Harvey Beaton (Saracens), Jack Clement (Gloucester), Luke Green (London Irish), Sam Riley (Harlequins), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks) and Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers).
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There are eight changes from the EPS squad announced in January with Jack Bates (Bristol), Tarek Haffar (London Irish), Louis Hillman-Cooper (Gloucester), Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints), Arthur Relton (Exeter), Ollie Stonham (Saracens), Harry Taylor (Gloucester) and Archie Vanes (Leicester) all receiving call ups.
Dickens said: “In a challenging season the lads have been excellent and I have been pleased we managed to get some game time along the way. Obviously, only 32 are fortunate to make the squad – and there have been some players missing out due to injury – but it has certainly been a wider squad effort going all the way back to November last year when we played our first North vs South match at St George’s Park.
“We have had a couple of camps in the last six weeks which helped bring the group together. The preparation has been good and the commitment from the players has been fantastic.
“I’m really excited, but ultimately it’s about the players. We have a few coming back for a second year at U20s, but the rest weren’t fortunate to play at U18s level last year due to Covid. I’m really looking forward to them being able to put on an England shirt and represent their country which is something that a lot of them haven’t done for a long time.”
"You’ll find that guys that come in this quickly sometimes pick up knocks and Charlie is pretty resilient in that way"
– Nine months after getting mown down by the red-carded Owen Farrell, 19-year-old Charlie Atkinson is earning kudos at Wasps https://t.co/8a3EMjXKjo
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 2, 2021
For the first time ever the U20s Six Nations will all be played at a single venue with back-to-back matches. “Staying in one hotel together for 31 days and playing at one venue will be a different experience, but it’s just fantastic that we can get a competition up and running for this generation of players.”
Players and management will assemble at Bisham Abbey on June 13 for a few days of training prior to their arrival in Wales later that week for the Championship which will all take place at Cardiff Arms Park.
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ENGLAND U20S SIX NATIONS SQUAD
Forwards (18)
Harvey Beaton (Saracens)
Phil Brantingham (Newcastle Falcons)
Lucas Brooke (London Irish)
Arthur Clark (Gloucester)
Jack Clement (Gloucester)
Luke Green (London Irish)
Alex Groves (Bristol Bears)
Tarek Haffar (London Irish)
Lewis Holsey (Worcester Warriors)
Ethan Hunt (Gloucester)
Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers)
Nahum Merigan (Bath)
Ewan Richards (Bath)
Sam Riley (Harlequins)
Ollie Stonham (Saracens)
Harry Taylor (Gloucester)
Freddie Thomas (Gloucester)
Archie Vanes (Leicester Tigers)
Backs (14)
Charlie Atkinson (Wasps)
Seb Atkinson (Worcester Warriors)
Deago Bailey (Bristol Bears)
Orlando Bailey (Bath)
Jack Bates (Bristol Bears)
Louis Hillman-Cooper (Gloucester)
Dan Lancaster (Leeds Tykes)
Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints)
Tommy Mathews (Northampton Saints)
Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks)
Arthur Relton (Exeter Chiefs)
Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
ENGLAND FIXTURES
Saturday, June 19: vs France, KO 5pm
Friday, June 25: vs Scotland, KO 2pm
Thursday, July 1: vs Ireland, KO 8pm
Wednesday, July 7: vs Wales, KO 8pm
Tuesday, July 13: vs Italy, KO 2pm
London Irish is home to one of the more intriguing 21 uncapped players chosen by England https://t.co/iatasd3VNs
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 10, 2021
