Caulfield on bench for Under-20s

By Mark Stevens
8/2/17

Exeter Chiefs forward Josh Caulfield has been named on the bench for England Under-20s ahead of their Six Nations clash with Wales in Colwyn Bay on Friday night (7:15pm).

Having sat out last weekend's opening day 59-17 victory over France at Sandy Park, Caulfield is one of a number of changes the Red Rose country have made to their squad for the game at Eirias Park.

Elsewhere, Justin Clegg, Gabriel Ibitoye and Jacob Umaga will start for the first time in place of Jack Nay, Sam Aspland-Robinson and Max Malins.
Malins was named man-of-the-match in England’s bonus-point victory over France, but has been called up by Saracens ahead of their Aviva Premiership match with Worcester Warriors.

The number 10 is replaced by 18-year-old Umaga who came on as a replacement at centre against France and recently made his senior debut at fly half for Wasps in the Anglo-Welsh Cup. Ibitoye replaces Harlequins team-mate Aspland-Robinson on the wing while Worcester Warriors second-row Clegg comes in for Nay.

England U20 coach Ian Vass said: “We now have a platform to work from in this competition, however we have been fully focused this week on how we can improve against Wales on Friday. An important part of player development is adapting to win in different situations and Friday will be another test for this group.”

The sold-out fixture at Eirias Park is being televised live on BBC Two Wales and is available in the rest of the UK on Satellite channel 971. Alternatively, the match is available live on the BBC iPlayer via this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08dwycf

England U20 squad to face Wales U20:

15. Tom Parton (London Irish)
14. Joe Cokanasiga (London Irish)
13. Max Wright (Yorkshire Carnegie)
12. Will Butler (Worcester Warriors)
11. Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins)
10. Jacob Umaga (Wasps)
9. Harry Randall (Gloucester Rugby)
8. Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby)
7. Ben Earl (Saracens – captain)
6. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
5. Justin Clegg (Worcester Warriors)
4. Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
3. Joseph Morris (Worcester Warriors)
2. Joe Mullis (Gloucester Rugby)
1. Ollie Dawe (Bristol Rugby)

Replacements:
16. Curtis Langdon (Sale Sharks)
17. Alex Seville (Gloucester Rugby)
18. Ciaran Knight (Gloucester Rugby)
19. Josh Caulfield (Exeter Chiefs)
20. Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby)
21. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
22. James Grayson (Northampton Saints)
23. Dominic Morris (Saracens)

England U20’s 2017 Six Nations fixtures:

All of the home England U20 Six Nations fixtures will be shown live on Sky Sports

England 59 v 17 France: Saturday 4th February – Sandy Park, Exeter

Wales v England: Friday 10th February – Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay (KO 7:15pm)

England v Italy: Friday 24th February – Darlington Mowden Park (KO 7:45pm)

England v Scotland: Saturday 11th March – Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton (KO 6:15pm)

Ireland v England: Friday 17th March – Donnybrook Stadium, (KO 6:00pm)