England national under-20 rugby union team explained

Country:England U-20
Union:Rugby Football Union
Emblem:Red Rose
Ground:Twickenham
Captain:Finn Carnduff
Coach:Mark Mapletoft
Top Scorer:Tom Homer
Most Tries:Jonny May
Pattern La1:_England_rugby_2021_h
Pattern B1:_England_rugby_2021_h
Pattern Ra1:_England_rugby_2021_h
Pattern So1:_whitetop
Leftarm1:FFFFFF
Body1:FFFFFF
Rightarm1:FFFFFF
Shorts1:FFFFFF
Socks1:00004A
Pattern La2:_englandrugby21a
Pattern B2:_englandrugby21a
Pattern Ra2:_englandrugby21a
Shorts2:000040
Socks2:000040
First: England 28–15 Wales
(1 Feb 2008)
Bigwin: England 109–0 United States
(13 June 2013)
Bigloss: New Zealand 64–17 England
(18 June 2017)
World Cup Apps:13 (First in 2008)
Best:Champions (2013, 2014, 2016, 2024)

The England Under 20 rugby team are the newest representative rugby union team from England. They replace the two former age grade teams Under 19s and Under 21s. They compete in the annual Six Nations Under 20s Championship and World Rugby Under 20 Championship.

The head coach of the team is Alan Dickens.[1]

World Rugby Under 20 Championship

Their first tournament was the 2008 IRB Junior World Championship, in which they took second place, being defeated by New Zealand 3–38 in the final.[2] The following year saw England finish runners up to New Zealand again at the 2009 IRB Junior World Championship.[3]

At the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship, they reached the semi-finals after winning all of their pool stage games against Argentina, Ireland and France.[4] They lost the semi-final to Australia 16–28[5] and then lost against South Africa 22–27 to finish in 4th place.[6] England finished runners up to New Zealand again at the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship.[7]

At the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship, England defeated New Zealand 33-21 in the semi-final.[8] In the final against Wales, tries from Jack Nowell and Sam Hill saw England recover from a dozen point half-time deficit to become World Champions at junior level for the first time.[9]

England retained their title at the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship, defeating South Africa in the final.[10] The following year saw England lose in the final of the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship to New Zealand.[11] England hosted the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.[12] They regained the title after defeating Ireland in the final.[13]

England were runners up to both New Zealand at the 2017 tournament[14] and hosts France at the 2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.[15] England won the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship, defeating France 21-13 in the final.[16] [17]

Championship record

YearRoundPosition
2008Runners-up2nd5401148104
2009Runners-up2nd540119379
2010Semi-final4th5302139107
2011Runners-up2nd5401153114
2012Pool stage7th530212888
2013Champions1st540121973
2014Champions1st550018178
2015Runners-up2nd530215194
2016Champions1st550019361
2017Runners-up2nd5401169144
2018Runners-up2nd540117497
2019Pool stage5th5401181147
2020–2022Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2023Semi-final4th5122155137
2024Champions1st550015777
Total14/144 Titles704532152,3411,400

Overall

All results, up to and including the 2020 Six Nations Under 20s Championship and the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.

width=200 Opponentwidth=70 Playedwidth=70 Wonwidth=70 Lostwidth=70 Drawnwidth=70 % Won
3 3 0 0
7 6 1 0
1 1 0 0
1 1 0 0
18 12 6 0
20 13 7 0
18 17 1 0
2 2 0 0
6 1 5 0
2 2 0 0
17 15 2 0
11 8 3 0
1 1 0 0
16 13 3 0
Total 123 95 28 0

Players

Current squad

This is the England Under-20s squad for the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship.[18]

PlayerPositionClub
Nathan JibiluHooker Harlequins
Finn Theobald-ThomasHooker Gloucester
Craig WrightHooker Northampton Saints
Ethan ClarkeProp Harlequins
Afolabi FasogbonProp Gloucester
James HalliwellProp Bristol Bears
Archie McArthurProp Gloucester
Asher Opoku-FordjourProp Sale Sharks
Harry BrowneLock Harlequins
Finn CarnduffLock Leicester Tigers
Lewis ChessumLock Leicester Tigers
Harvey CucksonLock Bath
Zach CarrBack Row Harlequins
Chandler Cunningham-SouthBack Row Harlequins
Greg FisilauBack Row Exeter Chiefs
Nathan MichelowBack Row Saracens
Tristan WoodmanBack Row Sale Sharks
Charlie BrackenScrum-half Saracens
Nye ThomasScrum-half Sale Sharks
Sam HarrisFly-half Bath
Louie JohnsonFly-half Newcastle Falcons
Jacob CusickCentre Leicester Tigers
Joe JenkinsCentre Bristol Bears
Rekeiti Ma'asi-WhiteCentre Sale Sharks
Toby ThameCentre Northampton Saints
Joseph WoodwardCentre Leicester Tigers
Cassius CleavesWing Harlequins
Alex WillsWing Sale Sharks
Tobias ElliotFull-back Saracens
Connor SlevinFull-back Harlequins

Award winners

The following England U20s players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2008:[19]

World Rugby Junior Player of the Year
width=40Yearwidth=160Nomineeswidth=160Winners
2008Joe Simpsonalign=center rowspan=2
2009Carl Fearns
2011George FordGeorge Ford
2013Jack Cliffordalign=center rowspan=2
2014Nathan Earle
2015James ChisholmJames Chisholm
2016Harry Mallinderalign=center rowspan=5
align=center rowspan=22017Gabriel Ibitoye
Zach Mercer
align=center rowspan=22018Gabriel Ibitoye (2)
Jordan Olowofela

Management

Honours

Winners (4): 2013, 2014, 2016, 2024

Runners-up (6): 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018

Winners (8): 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2024

Grand Slam (4): 2008, 2011, 2017, 2021

Triple Crown (6): 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2021

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Steve Bates to lead the RFU's England U20s programme. Sky Sports. 2 March 2017 . 17 June 2018.
  2. Web site: England U20 3-38 NZ U20. BBC Sport. 22 June 2008. 17 June 2018.
  3. Web site: England U20s suffer loss in Japan. BBC Sport. 23 June 2009. 17 June 2018.
  4. Web site: England book semi-final date with Australia. ESPN Scrum . 13 June 2010 . 17 June 2018.
  5. Web site: New Zealand and Australia set up showdown. ESPN Scrum . 17 June 2010 . 17 June 2018.
  6. Web site: England settle for fourth as Baby Blacks triumph. Six Nations Rugby . 22 June 2010 . 17 June 2018.
  7. Web site: New Zealand U20 33-22 England U20. BBC Sport. 26 June 2011. 17 June 2018.
  8. Web site: England Under-20s beat New Zealand to reach world final. BBC Sport . 18 June 2013 . 17 June 2018.
  9. Web site: Junior World Championship: Wales U20 15-23 England U20. BBC Sport. 23 June 2013. 17 June 2018.
  10. Web site: Junior World Championship: England 21-20 South Africa. BBC Sport. 20 June 2014. 17 June 2018.
  11. Web site: World Rugby U20 Championship: New Zealand 21-16 England. BBC Sport. 20 June 2015. 17 June 2018.
  12. Web site: World Rugby U20 Championship: Manchester to host 2016 event. BBC Sport . 16 June 2015 . 17 June 2018.
  13. Web site: World Rugby U20 Championship 2016: England beat Ireland in final. BBC Sport. 25 June 2016. 17 June 2018.
  14. Web site: World Under-20 Championship final: England 17-64 New Zealand. BBC Sport. 18 June 2017. 17 June 2018.
  15. Web site: World Rugby U20 Championship: England lose out to France in final. BBC Sport. 17 June 2018. 17 June 2018.
  16. Web site: England overpower France to win Under-20 World Cup. BBC Sport. 19 July 2024.
  17. Web site: England v France: Five takeaways from World Rugby U20 Championship final as ‘outstanding’ props send a message. Planet Rugby. 19 July 2024.
  18. News: ENGLAND U20 MEN SQUAD NAMED FOR WORLD RUGBY U20 CHAMPIONSHIP . 6 June 2023. England Rugby. 6 June 2023.
  19. News: Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby . www.world.rugby . 16 March 2024 . en.