England Under-20s have named Leicester Tigers prop Joe Heyes in the starting line-up for their opening game of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship, against Ireland on Tuesday.
Head coach Steve Bates includes Heyes among the six players who appeared in last year’s Championship Final in France as England kick off against Grand Slam champions Ireland at CRAI Club in Santa Fe.
The Tigers tighthead made 22 appearances in his debut season in senior rugby following his success with England Under-20s last summer.
England have a proud record in the competition, reaching the last final in each of the last six years and winning the Championship three times, most recently in 2016.
This year's Championship will see a World Rugby trial, with all 28 squad members available to be used among the eight permitted replacements on matchday.
Head coach Bates said: “We are playing the side that won the Under-20 Six Nations so we know it is going to be a big challenge and we have got to be right at the top of our game.
“A big factor for us is going to be the experience of our pack. A lot have played in the Premiership already, they have played a lot at Under-20 level and also in this tournament so they are battle-hardened. Having said that, we are not going to play a game dominated by our forwards because we have some very exciting and talented backs, but we recognise up front will be an area where we can exert some pressure.
Kick-off is at 7.30pm UK time on Tuesday and there is live coverage on World Rugby platforms.
England Under-20s
15 Tom de Glanville (Bath Rugby)
14 Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints)
13 Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints) - captain
12 Cameron Redpath (Sale Sharks)
11 Tom Seabrook (Gloucester Rugby)
10 Manu Vunipola (Saracens)
9 Ollie Fox (Bath Rugby)
1 Olly Adkins (Gloucester Rugby)
2 Nic Dolly (Sale Sharks)
3 Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
4 Joel Kpoku (Saracens)
5 Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
6 Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors)
7 Aaron Hinkley (Gloucester Rugby)
8 Tom Willis (Wasps)
Replacements
16 Alfie Barbeary (Wasps)
17 Kai Owen (Worcester Warriors)
18 Alfie Petch (Exeter Chiefs)
19 Will Capon (Bristol Bears)
20 James Kenny (Exeter Chiefs)
21 Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs)
22 Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs)
23 Josh Basham (Newcastle Falcons)
24 Sam Maunder (Exeter Chiefs)
25 Luke James (Sale Sharks)
26 Connor Doherty (Sale Sharks)
27 Arron Reed (Sale Sharks)
28 Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons)
Ireland Under-20: 15 Iwan Hughes (Ballynahinch/Ulster), 14 Angus Kernohan (Queen’s University/Ulster), 13 Liam Turner (Dublin University/Leinster), 12 Stewart Moore (Malone/Ulster), 11 Jonathan Wren (Cork Constitution/Munster), 10 Jake Flannery (Shannon/Munster), 9 Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster); 1 Josh Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster), 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin (Corinthians/Connacht), 3 Tom Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster), 4 Charlie Ryan (UCD/Leinster)(c), 5 Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster), 6 David McCann (Banbridge/Ulster), 7 John Hodnett (UCC/Munster), 8 Azur Allison (Ballymena/Ulster)
Replacements: Michael Milne (UCD/Leinster), Declan Adamson (Clontarf/Leinster), John McKee (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Charlie Ward (Clontarf/Leinster), Thomas Ahern (Shannon/Munster), Niall Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht), Ronan Watters (St.Mary’s College/Leinster), Ciaran Booth (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby), Colm Reilly (Buccaneers/Connacht), Cormac Foley (St.Mary’s College/Leinster), Ben Healy (Garryowen/Munster), Sean French (Cork Constitution/Munster), Rob Russell (Dublin University/Leinster)
