Five Saracens in England Squad for Under 20's World Championship
Saracens have had five players named in the England squad for the Under 20's World Championship this summer.
James Isaacs, Nathan Michelow, Olamide Sodeke, Jack Bracken and Angus Hall will all travel to South Africa.
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).
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.
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 fixtures
Matchday 1 (29 June) - England vs. Argentina – Athlone Stadium - (13:00 BST kick-off)
Matchday 2 (4 July) - England vs. Fiji – Athlone Stadium - (15:30 BST kick-off)
Matchday 3 (9 July) - South Africa vs. England – Athlone Stadium - (18:00 BST kick-off)
Knockout matches
Matchday 4 (Sunday 14 July)
Matchday 5 (final and ranking matches, Friday 19 July)