Three Exeter Men Named in England U20s Squad for World Championships

Three Exeter Chiefs Academy players have been named in the England U20s squad for the upcoming 2024 World Rugby U20s Championship in South Africa.

Joe Bailey and Kane James - who both were part of England's U20s Six Nations title - are joined by Ben Coen in the squad.

Head coach Mark Mapletoft and assistant coach Andy Titterrell have named their 30-strong personnel for this year’s tournament, with their first match in Pool C against Argentina taking place on Saturday 29 June at Athlone Stadium (13:00 BST kick-off).

Leicester Tigers forward Finn Carnduff became the first England U20 Men’s player in three years to lead his country to Under-20 Six Nations glory back in March, and continues his captaincy this summer as the squad’s most experienced player (15 competitive caps).

Twenty-two current squad members attained caps in the victorious Six Nations Championship recently with 18 of the squad having made senior competitive appearances for their parent clubs in the 2023/24 season. The team boasts 145 cumulative U20 caps, with 27 players progressing through the England Rugby Men’s Pathway with either U17, U18 or U19 caps.

Arthur Green (Bath Rugby), Cameron Miell and Ollie Allan (both Leicester Tigers), Saracens’ Jack Bracken and Angus Hall, Benjamin Coen (Exeter Chiefs) and Lucas Friday of Harlequins are the seven uncapped players will make their U20 bows in South Africa. Each of whom have earned minutes in England’s recent uncapped outings against Coventry RFC or Georgia.

England continue their U20 Championship with pool stage outings against Fiji (4 July, 15:30 BST kick-off) and hosts South Africa (9 July, 18:00 BST kick-off) at Athlone Stadium before the tournament knockout fixtures. Supporters can view England’s pursuit of a fourth U20 Championship this summer with each fixture available to watch live on RugbyPass TV.

Mark Mapletoft said: “Over the last month, we’ve had a block of preparation that has helped our development and planning for the upcoming Championship.

“Recent fixtures against Coventry and Georgia have also afforded us the opportunity to integrate new faces into the fold, seven of which are set for their first competitive caps this summer. I’d like to congratulate Arthur, Cam, Ollie, Jack, Ben, Lucas and Angus and thank them and the squad as whole for their impressive work put in recently.

“Our pool stage fixtures are an exciting bill of opponents with varying styles and approaches to the game that will test our capabilities in a short turnaround between matchdays. The players, staff and I are excited to make the country proud.”

England U20 Men’s 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship squad:

Forwards
Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs, Newton Abbot RFC, 5 caps)

Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers, Market Harborough RFC, 15 caps)

Harvey Cuckson (Bath Rugby, Mold RFC, 2 caps)

Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby, Bishop Wand School, 11 caps)

Arthur Green (Bath Rugby, Frome RFC, uncapped)

James Halliwell (Bristol Bears, Thornbury RFC, 10 caps)

James Isaacs (Saracens, Hemel Hempstead Camelot RFC, 3 caps)

Kane James (Exeter Chiefs, St Peters RFC, 4 caps) 

Junior Kpoku (Racing 92, Saracens Amateurs, 4 caps)

Nathan Michelow (Saracens, Brentwood Rugby, 10 caps)

Cameron Miell (Leicester Tigers, Paul Roos, uncapped)

Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons, Barnard Castle Rugby Club, 5 caps)

Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, Broadstreet RFC, 14 caps)

Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, Buckingham Rugby Club, 5 caps)

Billy Sela (Bath Rugby, Royal Wootton Bassett RFC, 6 caps)

Olamide Sodeke (Saracens, Blackheath Rugby Club, 4 caps)

Craig Wright (Northampton Saints, Braintree Rugby Club, 5 caps)

Backs
Ollie Allan (Leicester Tigers, Hungerford RFC, uncapped)

Josh Bellamy (Harlequins, Rosslyn Park, 4 caps)

Jack Bracken (Saracens, Barnet Elizabethans RFC, uncapped)

Benjamin Coen (Exeter Chiefs, Teignmouth RFC, uncapped)

Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints, Bugbrooke RFC, 6 caps)

Lucas Friday (Harlequins, Bromley RFC, uncapped)

Angus Hall (Saracens, Sevenoaks Rugby Club, uncapped)

Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby, Minchinhampton RFC, 4 caps)

Sean Kerr (Harlequins, Sutton and Epsom Rugby Club, 4 caps)

Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons, West Park Leeds RFC, 5 caps)

Oli Spencer (Newcastle Falcons, Epping Rams Rugby, 5 caps)

Ben Waghorn (Harlequins, Chipstead Rugby Club, 7 caps)

Alex Wills (Sale Sharks, Droitwich Rugby Club, 7 caps)