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Atkinson in as unbeaten England change 4 for 20s tie with Ireland

(Photo by Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images)

Grand Slam-chasing England have made four changes to their starting line-up for Thursday’s Six Nations U20s clash with Ireland, who are also unbeaten heading into round three of a tournament that is being played entirely in Cardiff.   

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Fresh from the 31-12 bonus-point win over Scotland, coach Alan Dickens has now included Charlie Atkinson, Tom Litchfield, Arthur Clark and Nahum Merigan for their first starts in this year’s competition.

There are also two positional changes with Ewan Richards moving to blindside and Jack Clement completing the back row at openside. Jack van Poortvliet continues to captain from scrum-half.

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Maro Itoje on what it is like playing for Saracens

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    Maro Itoje on what it is like playing for Saracens

    Jim Hamilton sits down with Vitality ambassador and former teammate Maro Itoje before he jets off to South Africa for the British & Irish Lions Series.
    The Saracens lock told us all about Saracens rugby club and the defining effect it has had on his rugby career.

    Dickens said: “I have been pleased with the squad’s preparation for this match. There were areas we knew we could improve on again from the Scotland game and so we have worked on that in training this week.

    “A Six Nations campaign is very much a squad effort so we have made some changes across the matchday 26 for this fixture. There is a lot of competition among the group which is exactly what we want as the players drive each other to be better in every session.

    “I was pleased with Charlie’s input off the bench last time out and we wanted to give him some more game time this week. We have a few positional changes too with players unavailable for selection due to injury or suspension. We will be coming up against a strong Ireland side who have also started with two wins to this year’s competition, so we know how tough a challenge it is going to be.”

    ENGLAND U20s (vs Ireland, Thursday)
    15. Charlie Atkinson (Wasps)
    14. Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints)
    13. Jack Bates (Bristol Bears)
    12. Dan Lancaster (Leeds Tykes)
    11. Arthur Relton (Exeter Chiefs)
    10. Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors)
    9. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers) Captain
    1. Phil Brantingham (Newcastle Falcons)
    2. Sam Riley (Harlequins)
    3. Harvey Kindell-Beaton (Saracens)
    4. Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby)
    5. Alex Groves (Bristol Bears)
    6. Ewan Richards (Bath Rugby)
    7. Jack Clement (Gloucester Rugby)
    8. Nahum Merigan (Bath Rugby)

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    Replacements:
    16. Archie Vanes (Leicester Tigers)
    17. Tarek Haffar (London Irish)
    18. Luke Green (London Irish)
    19. Freddie Thomas (Gloucester Rugby)
    20. Ollie Stonham (Saracens)
    21. Josh Gray (Gloucester Rugby)
    22. Tom Carr-Smith (Bath Rugby)
    23. Tommy Mathews (Hartpury University RFC)
    24. Phil Cokanasiga (London Irish)
    25. Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
    26. Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby)

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    J
    JW 1 hour ago
    'France may leave top players at home but will still be serious contenders in New Zealand'

    You can translate here https://translate.google.com/?sl=auto&tl=en&op=websites


    Thanks for the link, but I can read it clearly and it says the… Top 14 features almost twice as many matches as Super Rugby Pacific, but is two and a half times longer.


    This article appears to be the basis of; https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/the-stats-show-the-club-v-country-wounds-may-never-heal/ which is the one that I referred to which refutes your perception.


    Were they both say..

    If we take the dominant clubs in each major championship, we see that Stade Toulousain, author of the Top 14 – Champions Cup double, only has seven players above 1000 minutes, far from the average previously cited.


    Furthermore, none of these players are full-time starters for the French national team: Toulouse are ahead of the competition at this level, and are far more effective than their domestic rivals in protecting their premium players.

    The premium players being treated best is clearly apparent. Is you’re player management as good as New Zealands, of course not. NZ players will obviously be more fresh, but if we take the total of each at the end of their seasons, theres not going to be much difference as I’ve said, LNR are already treating their players much better.


    I’m sorry, but as I alluded to, you are a fan rather than a researcher, your picture that you think has been painted is wrong. Your linked article says everything I did above.


    So while that article paints the French in a well rested light, however it’s not actually including EPCR, which in respect to Toulouse, is where they’ve put their stars minutes into. So I think it’s time to do your own research! Pick and player and lets see, one of each camp? An important player you think has played a lot, and an example of a fresh young lad. Then were can look to their minutes as see how close or far they are to examples of players who are going to play in July.


    Trust me, I have already done this research (but wouldn’t mind look at examples from this year to see if it’s still the case/same as previous years).

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