England men's U20 team announced for final hit-out before U20 Championships

England men’s U20 head coach Mark Mapletoft has named his side to face Georgia U20 for the second of their two-match tour on Thursday, 1 June, in what will be the team’s final fixture ahead of the World Rugby U20 Championship starting next month.

In the series’ opening match on Saturday, England claimed a hard-fought 41-36 win.

Thursday’s match kicks off at 13:00 BST (16:00 local time) at Avchala Rugby Stadium in Tbilisi and will be streamed on the Georgian Rugby Facebook page.

Leicester’s Lewis Chessum has been named captain and will be joined in the second row by Harvey Cuckson.

Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Afolabi Fasogbon are England’s starting props with Finn Theobald-Thomas at hooker.

Finn Carnduff, Greg Fisilau and Chandler Cunningham-South form the backrow trio.

Scrumhalf Charlie Bracken and Connor Slevin are in the halves, while outside them Joseph Woodward and Rekeiti Ma’asi-White resume their midfield pairing.

Alex Wills and Jacob Cusick start on the wings and Joe Jenkins will wear the number 15 shirt.

The side’s replacements are Nathan Jibulu, Ethan Clarke, James Halliwell, Zach Carr, Nathan Michelow, Nye Thomas, Benjamin Waghorn, Toby Thame and Louie Johnson.

Mapletoft said: “Our first match against Georgia was tough; they were physical in their tackles, and some of their tries showed they have as much strike power out wide as they do through the forwards. Equally though, I was really pleased with the composure our players showed to stay in the contest and close out the match. Our bench had a real impact.

“The players learned a lot from Saturday’s match, which is why we’re on this tour. Our attention now turns to game two in what will be our final hit-out ahead of the World Rugby U20 Championship and we know we’ll have to put together a more complete performance in two days’ time.”

England men’s U20 team

15. Joe Jenkins (Bristol Bears)
14. Jacob Cusick (Leicester Tigers)
13. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White (Sale Sharks)  
12. Joseph Woodward (Leicester Tigers)
11. Alex Wills (Sale Sharks)
10. Connor Slevin (Harlequins)
9. Charlie Bracken (Saracens)
1. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
2. Finn Theobald-Thomas (Gloucester)
3. Afolabi Fasogbon (London Irish)
4. Harvey Cuckson (Bath Rugby)
5. Lewis Chessum (Leicester Tigers)
6. Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers)
7. Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)
8. Chandler Cunningham-South (London Irish)

Replacements

16. Nathan Jibulu (Harlequins)
17. Ethan Clarke (Harlequins)
18. James Halliwell (Bristol Bears)
19. Zach Carr (Harlequins)
20. Nathan Michelow (Saracens)
21. Nye Thomas (Sale Sharks)
22. Benjamin Waghorn (Harlequins)
23. Toby Thame (Northampton Saints)
24. Louie Johnson (Newcastle Falcons)