Steve Bates, England’s head coach, has named the U20s side that will face Italy at Goldington Road tomorrow night and says they’re looking forward to playing in front of a Bedford crowd.
There are three changes to the starting XV who faced Wales.
James Scott replaces Alex Coles in the second row, while Rus Tuima gets his first U20 start at number eight with Tom Willis switching to blindside flanker.
Tom Seabrook will be at outside centre, replacing the injured Connor Doherty while Willis will captain the side for a second-successive match.
England’s front row and halfback pairing are unchanged, as is the back three.
Sadly former Bedford school boy Fraser Dingwall is out with a suspected ankle injury, which will disappointed many who had hoped to see him on his adopted ‘home turf’.
Having defeated world champions France in Exeter, Bates’ side are looking for a second win in the Championship to make up for losing their away fixtures to Ireland and Wales.
“On reflection we had a disappointing result against Wales but we played a lot of rugby in the manner we had prepared to, we just didn’t execute it as clinically as we’d liked,” said Bates.
“The message to the squad is to continue to believe in what we are doing, be a bit more accurate in the final third and make sure the pressure we are putting on our opponents is turned into some scoreboard advantage.
“We saw against France in Exeter how much of a part home support can have and the players are all looking forward to taking on Italy in Bedford and we are hopeful it can give us that extra edge over Italy.”
Following Friday’s game in Bedford, England will end their Championship against Scotland at Northampton’s Franklin’s Gardens on Friday 15 March.
England U20s
- 15. Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons)
- 14. Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints)
- 13. Tom Seabrook (Gloucester Rugby)
- 12. Tom de Glanville (Bath Rugby)
- 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish)
- 10. Kieran Wilkinson (Sale Sharks)
- 9. Ollie Fox (Yorkshire Carnegie)
- 1. Olly Adkins (Gloucester Rugby)
- 2. Nic Dolly (Sale Sharks)
- 3. Alfie Petch (Exeter Chiefs)
- 4. Joel Kpoku (Saracens)
- 5. James Scott (Worcester Warriors)
- 6. Tom Willis (Wasps)
- 7. Aaron Hinkley (Gloucester Rugby)
- 8. Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs)
Replacements:
16. Samson Ma’asi (Northampton Saints), 17. Kai Owen (Worcester Warriors), 18. Jack Bartlett (Gloucester Rugby), 19. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), 20. Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs), 21. Sam Maunder (Exeter Chiefs), 22. Manu Vunipola (Saracens), 23. Jack Reeves (Gloucester Rugby).
England U20 Six Nations result and fixtures:
- Ireland 35-27 England
- England 31-19 France
- Wales 11-10 England
Kick off is at 19.45 with a live broadcast on Sky Sports.
