England U20 Men’s head coach Mark Mapletoft and forwards coach Andy Titterrell have selected a 32-player Elite Playing Squad for the 2023/24 season.
The selection, which has been made earlier than in previous seasons, sees the pair aim to tighten cohesion within the collective and build into the upcoming U20 Six Nations and U20 World Championships in resolute fashion.
Mapletoft takes charge in his first full term steering the pathways side after three years of involvement with the England U18s, as well as a decade worth of experience coaching Harlequins prior.
Former England international and British & Irish Lions tourist Titterrell continues his pathway role into a fourth campaign, specialising in coaching the team’s pack after joining the national set-up from Wasps in 2020.
The current cohort includes 12 previously capped players for the U20s; with Joe Bailey, Harry Browne, Finn Carnduff, Zach Carr, Toby Cousins, Afolabi Fasogbon, James Halliwell, Nathan Michelow, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Ben Waghorn, Alex Wills and Craig Wright looking to impart their experience on the wider squad and build on their previous showings.
In a largely refreshed cohort, the elected players consist of 19 forwards and 13 backs with all 10 Premiership Rugby academies represented in the makeup of the team.
The player pathway programme at England Rugby is a crucial structural foundation to develop the future of international rugby in England; with two members of the 2022 U20 Men’s Elite Player Squad (Henry Arundell and Will Joseph) now capped at senior level.
28 of the 33 senior England men’s players at the 2023 Rugby World Cup are capped England U20 representatives, with all but one of the squad having represented England in at least one age-grade.
The U20 class of 2024 will prepare for another year of competitive action with camps at Browns Sports Resort, Portugal and Bisham Abbey across December and January, as well as a newly announced pair of exhibition warm-ups against Bath Rugby and Oxford University.
Mapletoft’s men take on a select XV from the Somerset outfit on 6 January 2024 at Dings Crusaders RFC (17:00 GMT kick-off), whilst a meeting with the university side follows a week later at Oxford University (13 January, 14:00 GMT kick-off).
Italy awaits in the opening meeting of the 2024 U20 Six Nations (2 February 2024, 19:15 GMT kick-off), with England hosting both Wales (tickets available here) and Ireland in next year’s competition.
Ahead of the squad announcement, head coach Mark Mapletoft expressed his belief in the 32 players selected for his U20 side this season.
“Andy [Titterrell] and I have assembled an extremely talented group to take us into this season, we have every confidence in their ability as well as their mindset as a team,” he stated.
“It’s a pleasure to be heading up the U20s side, I thoroughly enjoyed my time involved with the U18s and rest assured, I will continue to work closely with Jonathan [Pendlebury, England U18 Men’s head coach] and Will [Parkin, England U18 Men’s assistant coach] to ensure a streamlined experience for our boys in the pathway.
“Over the next few months, we will be working towards establishing continuity within our play and link together these very special players to best represent the England shirt in 2024.”
Titterrell commented: “It’s been great to work alongside Mark [Mapletoft] over the summer and the U20 World Championships were a good reflection of the hard work and dedication we’ve put in so far – he’s added great value to the U20s programme.
“We have liaised closely with Premiership clubs, academies and universities following our time in South Africa as to best advise our decision to select this squad, and for that I thank them.
“As a unit, we’ll strive to maintain that intensity in our output on the training paddock and in our upcoming fixtures against Bath and Oxford University to lead into our trip to Italy in February.”
England U20 Men’s 2023/24 Elite Playing Squad
Ollie Allan (Leicester Tigers)
Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs) *
Josh Bellamy (Harlequins)
Jack Bennett (Bath Rugby)
Harry Browne (Harlequins) *
Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers) *
Zach Carr (Harlequins) *
Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints) *
Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby) *
Will Glister (Northampton Saints)
James Halliwell (Bristol Bears) *
Kane James (Exeter Chiefs)
Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby)
Sean Kerr (Harlequins)
Reuben Logan (Northampton Saints)
Archie McParland (Northampton Saints)
Nathan Michelow (Saracens) *
Cameron Miell (Leicester Tigers)
Charlie Myall (Leicester Tigers)
Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks) *
Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)
Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons)
Malelili Satala-Navlivou (Leicester Tigers)
Lucas Schmid (Harlequins)
Billy Sela (Bath Rugby)
Olamide Sodeke (Saracens)
Rory Taylor (Gloucester Rugby)
Ben Waghorn (Harlequins) *
Craig Wright (Northampton Saints) *
*denotes a player previously capped at England U20 Men’s level
England U20 Men’s U20 Six Nations fixtures
2 February – Italy v England – 19:15 GMT – Venue TBC
9 February – England v Wales – 19:15 GMT – The Recreation Ground
23 February – Scotland v England – 19:15 GMT – Venue TBC
8 March – England v Ireland – 19:15 GMT – Venue TBC
15 March – France v England – 20:00 GMT – Venue TBC
