England name a 32-man squad for the U20 Six Nations

England head coach Alan Dickens has named a 32-man squad for the U20 Six Nations which includes eight players already capped at this level.

The eight players making a return are Archie McArthur, Finn Theobald-Thomas, Lewis Chessum, Chandler Cunningham-South, Greg Fisilau, Rekeiti Ma'asi-White, Louie Johnson and Charlie Bracken.

The England men's U20 team will not only participate in the Six Nations tournament, but also in the World Rugby Under-20 Championship this summer. The player pathway programme for England is crucial for the development of future international rugby players; out of the 48 players who received caps for England last year, 42 of them previously played for the England U20 team.

“We’re very excited about the squad coming together in camp this week as we prepare for our 2023 campaign. Being selected for England at any level is a proud moment in their careers and hopefully this is the next step towards achieving their dream of playing for the senior side.

“There are eight players returning this year who have been part of the Under-20 setup before, plus another four – Nathan Jibulu, Rob Carmichael, Josh Dingley, and Tobias Elliott – who took away a lot of experience from last year’s Under-19 match in Italy," said Dickens. "Equally there are others who have worked very hard to be selected in the pathways programme for the first time.

“We’re looking forward to what will be a tough Under-20 Six Nations campaign, which starts with our match against Scotland at Twickenham Stoop, followed by the World Rugby Under-20 Championship later this year.

“We’re also looking forward to taking on Oxford University in front of a lively, and hopefully packed-out Iffley Road before we back up against the Loughborough Students the following week.

“These games are an important part of our preparation for the Under-20 Six Nations and will provide an opportunity to see players perform as a team ahead of the tournament.”

FORWARDS:

Harry Browne (Harlequins)

Robert Carmichael (Leicester Tigers)

Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers)

Lewis Chessum (Leicester Tigers)

Chandler Cunningham-South (London Irish)

Josh Dingley (Bath Rugby)

Danny Eite (Gloucester)

Afolabi Fasogbon (London Irish)

Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)

James Halliwell (Bristol Bears)

Tim Hoyt (Leicester Tigers)

Nathan Jibulu (Harlequins)

Joshua Manz (Leicester Tigers)

Archie McArthur (Gloucester)

George Patten (Northampton Saints)

Guy Pepper (Newcastle Falcons)

Calum Scott (London Irish)

Finn Theobald-Thomas (Gloucester)

BACKS:

Charlie Bracken (Saracens)

Cassius Cleaves (Harlequins)

Jacob Cusick (Leicester Tigers)

Tobias Elliott (Saracens)

Sam Harris (Bath Rugby)

Josh Hathaway (Gloucester)

Joe Jenkins (Bristol Bears)

Louie Johnson (Newcastle Falcons)

Rekeiti Ma'asi-White (Sale Sharks)

Connor Slevin (Harlequins)

Nye Thomas (Sale Sharks)

Benjamin Waghorn (Harlequins)

Joseph Woodward (Leicester Tigers)

Sam Worsley (Bristol Bears)