England U-20
UnionRugby Football Union
Emblem(s)Red Rose
Ground(s)Twickenham
Coach(es)Mark Mapletoft
Captain(s)Finn Carnduff
Top scorerTom Homer
Most triesJonny May
Team kit
Change kit
First international
England England 28–15 Wales Wales
(1 Feb 2008)
Largest win
England England 109–0 United States United States
(13 June 2013)
Largest defeat
New Zealand New Zealand 64–17 England England
(18 June 2017)
World Cup
Appearances13 (First in 2008)
Best resultChampions (2013, 2014, 2016)

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]

Championship record

Year Round Position Pld W D L PF PA
Wales 2008 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 0 1 148 104
Japan 2009 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 0 1 193 79
Argentina 2010 Semi-final 4th 5 3 0 2 139 107
Italy 2011 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 0 1 153 114
South Africa 2012 Pool stage 7th 5 3 0 2 128 88
France 2013 Champions 1st 5 4 0 1 219 73
New Zealand 2014 Champions 1st 5 5 0 0 181 78
Italy 2015 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 0 2 151 94
England 2016 Champions 1st 5 5 0 0 193 61
Georgia (country) 2017 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 0 1 169 144
France 2018 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 0 1 174 97
Argentina 2019 Pool stage 5th 5 4 0 1 181 147
2020–2022 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
South Africa 2023 Semi-final 4th 5 1 2 2 155 137
Total 13/13 3 Titles 65 48 2 15 2,184 1,323

Overall

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

Opponent Played Won Lost Drawn % Won
Argentina Argentina 3 3 0 0
100%
Australia Australia 7 6 1 0
85.71%
Canada Canada 1 1 0 0
100%
Fiji Fiji 1 1 0 0
100%
France France 18 12 6 0
66.67%
 Ireland 20 13 7 0
65.00%
Italy Italy 18 17 1 0
94.45%
Japan Japan 2 2 0 0
100%
New Zealand New Zealand 6 1 5 0
16.66%
Samoa Samoa 2 2 0 0
100%
Scotland Scotland 17 15 2 0
88.23%
South Africa South Africa 11 8 3 0
72.72%
United States United States 1 1 0 0
100%
Wales Wales 16 13 3 0
81.25%
Total 123 95 28 0
77.87%

Players

Current squad

This is the England Under-20s squad for the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship.[16]

Player Position Club
Nathan Jibilu Hooker England Harlequins
Finn Theobald-Thomas Hooker England Gloucester
Craig Wright Hooker England Northampton Saints
Ethan Clarke Prop England Harlequins
Afolabi Fasogbon Prop England London Irish
James Halliwell Prop England Bristol Bears
Archie McArthur Prop England Gloucester
Asher Opoku-Fordjour Prop England Sale Sharks
Harry Browne Lock England Harlequins
Finn Carnduff Lock England Leicester Tigers
Lewis Chessum Lock England Leicester Tigers
Harvey Cuckson Lock England Bath
Zach Carr Back Row England Harlequins
Chandler Cunningham-South Back Row England Harlequins
Greg Fisilau Back Row England Exeter Chiefs
Nathan Michelow Back Row England Saracens
Tristan Woodman Back Row England Sale Sharks
Charlie Bracken Scrum-half England Saracens
Nye Thomas Scrum-half England Sale Sharks
Sam Harris Fly-half England Bath
Louie Johnson Fly-half England Newcastle Falcons
Jacob Cusick Centre England Leicester Tigers
Joe Jenkins Centre England Bristol Bears
Rekeiti Ma'asi-White Centre England Sale Sharks
Toby Thame Centre England Northampton Saints
Joseph Woodward Centre England Leicester Tigers
Cassius Cleaves Wing England Harlequins
Alex Wills Wing England Sale Sharks
Tobias Elliot Full-back England Saracens
Connor Slevin Full-back England Harlequins

Award winners

The following England U20s players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2008:[17]

World Rugby Junior Player of the Year
Year Nominees Winners
2008 Joe Simpson —
2009 Carl Fearns
2011 George Ford George Ford
2013 Jack Clifford —
2014 Nathan Earle
2015 James Chisholm James Chisholm
2016 Harry Mallinder —
2017 Gabriel Ibitoye
Zach Mercer
2018 Gabriel Ibitoye (2)
Jordan Olowofela

Management

Honours

Winners (3): 2013, 2014, 2016
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

References

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

External links

England national rugby union team
National sports teams of England
Six Nations Under 20s Championship
Categories