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.

England U-20
UnionRugby Football Union
Emblem(s)Red Rose
Ground(s)Twickenham
Coach(es)Mark Mapletoft
Captain(s)Finn Carnduff
Top scorerTom Homer
Most triesJonny May
Team kit
Change kit
First international
England England 28–15 Wales Wales
(1 Feb 2008)
Largest win
England England 109–0 United States United States
(13 June 2013)
Largest defeat
New Zealand New Zealand 64–17 England England
(18 June 2017)
World Cup
Appearances13 (First in 2008)
Best resultChampions (2013, 2014, 2016, 2024)

The head coach of the team is Alan Dickens.[1]

World Rugby Under 20 Championship

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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] England won the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship, defeating France 21-13 in the final.[16][17]


Championship record

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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
  2024 Champions 1st 5 5 0 0 157 77
Total 14/14 4 Titles 70 453 2 15 2,341 1,400

Overall

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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

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Current squad

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This is the England Under-20s squad for the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship.[18]

Player Position Club
Nathan Jibulu Hooker   Harlequins
Finn Theobald-Thomas Hooker   Gloucester
Craig Wright Hooker   Northampton Saints
Ethan Clarke Prop   Harlequins
Afolabi Fasogbon Prop   Gloucester
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

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The following England U20s players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2008:[19]

World Rugby Junior Player of the Year
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

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Honours

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Winners (4): 2013, 2014, 2016, 2024
Runners-up (6): 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018
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

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Steve Bates to lead the RFU's England U20s programme". Sky Sports. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  2. ^ "England U20 3-38 NZ U20". BBC Sport. 22 June 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  3. ^ "England U20s suffer loss in Japan". BBC Sport. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  4. ^ "England book semi-final date with Australia". ESPN Scrum. 13 June 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  5. ^ "New Zealand and Australia set up showdown". ESPN Scrum. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  6. ^ "England settle for fourth as Baby Blacks triumph". Six Nations Rugby. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  7. ^ "New Zealand U20 33-22 England U20". BBC Sport. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  8. ^ "England Under-20s beat New Zealand to reach world final". BBC Sport. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Junior World Championship: Wales U20 15-23 England U20". BBC Sport. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Junior World Championship: England 21-20 South Africa". BBC Sport. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  11. ^ "World Rugby U20 Championship: New Zealand 21-16 England". BBC Sport. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  12. ^ "World Rugby U20 Championship: Manchester to host 2016 event". BBC Sport. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  13. ^ "World Rugby U20 Championship 2016: England beat Ireland in final". BBC Sport. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  14. ^ "World Under-20 Championship final: England 17-64 New Zealand". BBC Sport. 18 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  15. ^ "World Rugby U20 Championship: England lose out to France in final". BBC Sport. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  16. ^ "England overpower France to win Under-20 World Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  17. ^ "England v France: Five takeaways from World Rugby U20 Championship final as 'outstanding' props send a message". Planet Rugby. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  18. ^ "ENGLAND U20 MEN SQUAD NAMED FOR WORLD RUGBY U20 CHAMPIONSHIP". England Rugby. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
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