Unbeaten England U20s change five for visit of title rivals Ireland

Mark Mapletoft has made five changes to his starting England U20s XV for Friday night’s crunch Six Nations age-grade clash with Ireland in Bath.

The English were 30-17 winners away to Scotland the last time out, but they have now bolstered their side with some recalls, enforced injury changes and positional switches to take on the Irish, who also go into the round four match with three wins from three so far.

There are two changes in personnel in the backline with Josh Bellamy taking over from the injured Rory Taylor at out-half while the promotion of Ben Waghorn from the bench back into the starting midfield has seen Ben Redshaw switch to full-back with Ioan Jones missing out.

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Former Fiji coach Simon Raiwalui chats about his new role as High Performance Pathways and Player Development Manager at World Rugby.

In the pack, Jacob Oliver is promoted from the bench to take over from Craig Wright and the return of Olamide Sodeke and Junior Kpoku at lock has resulted in Joe Bailey missing out and skipper Finn Carnduff switching to blindside, with Zach Carr dropping to the bench.

England boss Mark Mapletoft said: “England and Ireland have had some battles in recent times and this fixture is one that I’m sure our fans have been anticipating since it was announced last year.

Fixture

U20 Six Nations

England U20

32 - 32

Full-time

Ireland U20

All Stats and Data

“The support we received in our last outing at The Rec was second to none, and the fact we are expecting an even bigger crowd this weekend only adds to what promises to be a memorable occasion.

“Ireland’s Richie Murphy is a coach I have great respect for. He and his staff have built a very impressive programme and we look forward to welcoming them this Friday to write another chapter.”

England U20s (vs Ireland, Friday)
15. Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons, West Park Leeds RFC, 3 caps)
14. Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints, Bugbrooke RFC, 4 caps)
13. Ben Waghorn (Harlequins, Chipstead Rugby Club, 5 caps)
12. Sean Kerr (Harlequins, Effingham and Leatherhead RFC, 2 caps)
11. Alex Wills (Sale Sharks, Stourbridge Rugby, 6 caps)
10. Josh Bellamy (Harlequins, Rosslyn Park, 2 caps)
9. Archie McParland (Northampton Saints, Ruthin RFC, 2 caps)
1. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, Broadstreet RFC, 12 caps)
2. Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons, Barnard Castle Rugby Club, 3 caps)
3. Billy Sela (Bath Rugby, Royal Wootton Bassett RFC, 3 caps)
4. Olamide Sodeke (Saracens, Blackheath Rugby, 2 caps)
5. Junior Kpoku (Racing 92, Saracens Amateurs, 2 caps)
6. Finn Carnduff (c) (Leicester Tigers, Market Harborough RFC, 13 caps)
7. Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, Banbury RFC, 3 caps)
8. Nathan Michelow (Saracens, Coopers Company and Coborn School, 8 caps)

Replacements:
16. James Isaacs (Saracens, Hemel Hempstead Camelot RFC, uncapped)
17. Scott Kirk (Bath Rugby, Michaelhouse College, 3 caps)
18. James Halliwell (Bristol Bears, Thornbury Broncos Rugby Club, 7 caps)
19. Zach Carr (Harlequins, Ironsides Rugby Club, 4 caps)
20. Kane James (Exeter Chiefs, St Peters RFC, 2 caps)
21. Ben Douglas (Newcastle Falcons, Northern Football Club, 3 caps)
22. George Makepeace-Cubitt (Rams RFC, Reading Abbey RFC, 2 caps)
23. Oli Spencer (Newcastle Falcons, Epping Rams Rugby, 2 caps)

"Ireland will bring a direct, powerful, through the middle game but I'm expecting us to nullify that."

– Full-back Ben Redshaw explains the England mood heading into Friday night's U20s Six Nations title clash at The Rec. #EnglandRugby #ENGvIRE #U6N20 #rugby pic.twitter.com/VBlEkEKCF7

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 6, 2024