Following Martin Haag’s resignation in October of last year, there has been an unusual hush around the England U20s.
That silence was finally broken earlier today when the 32-man squad for the 2017 U20 Six Nations was announced.
There was no announcement of a new head coach, which – as we understand it – means that the Rugby Football Union’s head of international player development, Dean Ryan, will take control of the squad.
We kick off our coverage of that tournament by taking a close look at the players selected and what the fans can expect from them over the next two months.
It is worth noting before delving into the squad that a number of the players named have been in regular action for their Aviva Premiership sides so far this season and could well be kept back for club duty during the tournament. Of those regularly featuring U20-eligible players, only Paolo Odogwu has not been included in the EPS and presumably Sale Sharks have deemed him too integral to their plans to feature at all for England.
Right, into the squad.
Squad Breakdown: Forwards
Starting up front, the props and hookers in the EPS may be the biggest question mark in this class. It’s an area where England have always prospered at age-grade levels but it’s an inexperienced group, with only Jake Pope and Curtis Langdon (both Sale Sharks) having played for the U20s previously.
Pope is joined by Alex Seville, Ciaran Knight (both Gloucester), Joseph Morris (Worcester Warriors) and Ollie Dawe (Bristol) in the squad’s prop department, with the Gloucester duo and Morris having represented England U18s last season and Dawe doing likewise in 2015.
There is definitely potential in the group but it is largely untested at U20 level and that’s a theme that permeates the entire front row, with hookers Langdon and Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons) not having a wealth of experience between them.
Langdon was a part of the London Irish U18 side that won the Aviva Academy League last season and was a driving force behind that campaign with his work at the set-piece, as well as winning three caps with the England U20s and would be the likely candidate to start against France on Saturday 4th February.
Experience is sparse in the second row, also, with locks Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Ted Hill, Justin Clegg (both Worcester Warriors) and Josh Caulfield (Exeter Chiefs) all stepping up from U18 duty last season. What the group lacks in experience, however, it more than makes up for in potential.
Isiekwe is very highly-thought of at Saracens’ academy and was unlucky not to be fast-tracked into the U20s last year, such were his physical performances at U18 level, whilst Hill has been fast-tracked this year and already cuts a physically-daunting figure for a 17-year-old.
The back row is stacked with class, most notably Tom and Ben Curry (both Sale Sharks) and Zach Mercer (Bath), all of whom have featured regularly in the Premiership and Europe so far this season. Mercer has even caught Eddie Jones’ eye with his barnstorming performances for Bath.
From the video below, that comes courtesy of BathRugbyTV, you can see that Mercer’s youth is no barrier to effective communication and leadership on the pitch.
If made available by their clubs, this trio would almost certainly make up the starting back row.
Depth and competition behind them is provided by Jack Nay, Ben Earl (both Saracens), Zac Xiourouppa (Worcester Warriors) and Joe Mullis (Gloucester). Earl is a powerful number eight and the obvious replacement for Mercer if Todd Blackadder can’t afford to part with the young man, whilst Mullis is a dual hooker-openside, that represents a throwback to the amateur era. Nay and Xiourouppa, the latter of whom has picked up European experience in the Challenge Cup this season, will offer options on the flanks.
Squad Breakdown: Backs
After a number of years of slim pickings at the scrum-half position, England are spoiled this season.
Harry Randall (Gloucester) featured for the U20s last season after being fast-tracked as a result of injuries at the position and represents the archetypal sniping half-back, with the acceleration to make himself a threat at the fringes. Jack Maunder (Exeter Chiefs) has shown really nice balance to his game with the Exeter first team this season, featuring heavily in the Champions Cup, including the club’s recent visit to the Stade Marcel-Michelin to take on Clermont, and Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints) is the younger brother of former England U20 scrum-half James Mitchell.
With Will Chudley injured at Exeter, it may be that Maunder’s services are required in the south-west, so don’t be too surprised if this ends up as a Randall-Mitchell tag team for the Six Nations, with Maunder coming in for the World Championship in the summer.
At fly-half there are three clear options, Jamie Shillcock (Worcester Warriors), Theo Brophy Clews (London Irish) and Max Malins (Saracens). All three featured for the U20s last season, albeit in differing fashions.
Brophy Clews took on the mantle of starting fly-half, Malins was deployed at full-back and Shillcock was used to cover England’s injury crisis at scrum-half. Since then, Shillcock has gone on to play a significant role for the Worcester first team at both fly-half and full-back and has made up plenty of ground on Brophy Clews and Malins, both of whom had significant injuries in the second half of 2016.
Shillcock is just another of the players who could find himself yo-yoing in and out of this squad over the next two months due to club commitments, something which could give Brophy Clews and Malins the edge on him. The ability of all three to also play at full-back shouldn’t be disregarded, either, and we could well see at least two of these guys on the pitch at any one time.
Moving on to the centres and both Max Wright (Yorkshire Carnegie) and Dominic Morris (Saracens) return from last year’s group, although neither was an incumbent in the team, with Harry Mallinder and Joe Marchant having been the favoured combination. They are now joined by two U18 graduates in the forms of Jacob Umaga (Wasps) and Will Butler (Worcester Warriors).
Umaga, the son of former Samoa international Mike and nephew of All Black great Tana, is a very gifted playmaking inside centre, who also has experience at fly-half. As adept a ball-carrier as he is a distributor, Umaga will look to fill the Mallinder void in the England side and is one of the many players in this group to keep an eye on beyond the age-grades over the next few years.
Finally, we come to the back three.
Sam Aspland-Robinson (Harlequins) returns for another year with the side, where he is joined by club teammate Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins), Ratu Joe Cokanasiga and Tom Parton (both London Irish). As back threes go, it may well be the most potent group England have ever assembled at U20 level, especially factoring in the ability of the three fly-halves to also feature at full-back.
Aspland-Robinson has some of the fastest feet in age-grade rugby, Ibitoye is a well-rounded outside centre/wing who has captaincy experience from U18 level and full-back Parton is playing a significant role in London Irish’s campaign to return to the Premiership.
It is Cokanasiga, however, who is the man to watch. At 6’ 4” and weighing in at 114kg, his physical dimensions alone are a scary proposition, but factor into that his pace, ability to break a tackle and offloading game and you have a wing who can potentially set the Six Nations and World Championship alight this season.
Without wishing to border on hyperbole, this may be the best England U20 side to have been put together since the classification came into being in 2008.
It is certainly inexperienced and there will be kinks to work out as a result of that, but in terms of current ability and how good these players, on an individual basis, could be in a few years’ time, it would seem to be unrivalled in English history.
With seven of this squad – Curry, Curry, Mercer, Maunder, Shillcock, Brophy Clews, Cokanasiga – currently playing senior rugby, as well as Odogwu and Leicester’s Will Evans not included (for now), it is an unprecedented – across any nation – level of senior involvement for an U20 class.
Time will tell how much we see of these players during the U20 Six Nations but England showed last year that having struggles in the tournament, developing depth and building chemistry, ahead of welcoming those star players into the fold for the summer, can have very beneficial effects.
First up on England’s agenda will be the Six Nations but they will have their eyes on defending their title at the World Championship in the summer and at this point, it would take a very brave man to bet against them.
Expected 23 (if all available)
15. Jamie Shillcock
14. Sam Aspland-Robinson
13. Gabriel Ibitoye
12. Jacob Umaga
11. Ratu Joe Cokanasiga
10. Theo Brophy Clews
9. Jack Maunder
1. Ollie Dawe
2. Curtis Langdon
3. Ciaran Knight
4. Nick Isiekwe
5. Josh Caulfield
6. Ben Curry
7. Tom Curry
8. Zach Mercer
16. Jamie Blamire
17. Jake Pope
18. Joseph Morris
19. Ted Hill
20. Ben Earl
21. Harry Randall
22. Max Malins
23. Tom Parton
U20 Rugby 