England U20 head coach Mark Mapletoft has backed his ‘closer’ Lucas Friday to make an impact from the off as he makes his first start at this level against France 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.
Saints find themselves 19 points behind league leaders Bath and Bristol, and face an uphill task of reaching the end-of-season play-offs having lost five of their opening eight fixtures.
Saints defeated the north Londoners three times last season and were led out by Nick Tompkins on his 200th appearance for the club, who were dealt a pre-match blow when Elliot Daly withdrew with a hamstring problem.
Last season's Investec Champions Cup semi-finalists Northampton Saints got their new campaign off to a perfect start with a 38-8 bonus-point win over Castres at Franklin's Gardens.
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.
Northampton Saints have handed a debut to England U20 international George Makepeace-Cubitt, who was playing in National League One last season for Rams Rugby.