England national under-20 rugby union team
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.
 | |||
| Union | Rugby Football Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem(s) | Red Rose | ||
| Ground(s) | Twickenham | ||
| Coach(es) | Mark Mapletoft | ||
| Captain(s) | Finn Carnduff | ||
| Top scorer | Tom Homer | ||
| Most tries | Jonny May | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 England 28–15 Wales  (1 Feb 2008) | |||
| Largest win | |||
England 109–0 United States  (13 June 2013) | |||
| Largest defeat | |||
 New Zealand 64–17 England (18 June 2017) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 13 (First in 2008) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2013, 2014, 2016) | ||
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 148 | 104 |
 2009 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 193 | 79 |
 2010 | Semi-final | 4th | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 139 | 107 |
 2011 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 153 | 114 |
 2012 | Pool stage | 7th | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 128 | 88 |
 2013 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 219 | 73 |
| 2014 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 181 | 78 |
| 2015 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 151 | 94 |
| 2016 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 193 | 61 |
 2017 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 169 | 144 |
| 2018 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 174 | 97 |
| 2019 | Pool stage | 5th | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 181 | 147 |
| 2020–2022 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||
| 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 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Australia | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 85.71% |
 Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Fiji | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| France | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 66.67% |
 Ireland | 20 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 65.00% |
| Italy | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 94.45% |
| Japan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| New Zealand | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 16.66% |
 Samoa | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Scotland | 17 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 88.23% |
| South Africa | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 72.72% |
| United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| 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 | Harlequins |
| Finn Theobald-Thomas | Hooker | Gloucester |
| Craig Wright | Hooker | Northampton Saints |
| Ethan Clarke | Prop | Harlequins |
| Afolabi Fasogbon | Prop | London Irish |
| James Halliwell | Prop | Bristol Bears |
| Archie McArthur | Prop | Gloucester |
| Asher Opoku-Fordjour | Prop | Sale Sharks |
| Harry Browne | Lock | Harlequins |
| Finn Carnduff | Lock | Leicester Tigers |
| Lewis Chessum | Lock | Leicester Tigers |
| Harvey Cuckson | Lock | Bath |
| Zach Carr | Back Row | Harlequins |
| Chandler Cunningham-South | Back Row | Harlequins |
| Greg Fisilau | Back Row | Exeter Chiefs |
| Nathan Michelow | Back Row | Saracens |
| Tristan Woodman | Back Row | Sale Sharks |
| Charlie Bracken | Scrum-half | Saracens |
| Nye Thomas | Scrum-half | Sale Sharks |
| Sam Harris | Fly-half | Bath |
| Louie Johnson | Fly-half | Newcastle Falcons |
| Jacob Cusick | Centre | Leicester Tigers |
| Joe Jenkins | Centre | Bristol Bears |
| Rekeiti Ma'asi-White | Centre | Sale Sharks |
| Toby Thame | Centre | Northampton Saints |
| Joseph Woodward | Centre | Leicester Tigers |
| Cassius Cleaves | Wing | Harlequins |
| Alex Wills | Wing | Sale Sharks |
| Tobias Elliot | Full-back | Saracens |
| Connor Slevin | Full-back | Harlequins |
Award winners
The following England U20s players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2008:[17]
| 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
- Mark Mapletoft (head coach)
- Andy Titterrell (forwards coach)
Honours
- 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
