Emeka Ilione captains England Under-20s in their opening game of the Summer Series in Italy on Friday, with Leicester Tigers coleagues Lewis Chessum and Jed Walsh also in the matchday squad.
England head coach Alan Dickens selects Ilione at openside flanker against South Africa in his seventh cap at this level, while Chessum start in the second row after winning a first recognition earlier this season. Fly-half Walsh is among the replacements.
England face South Africa at the Payanini Centre in Verona, in a 4.00pm (UK time) kick-off on Friday.
Coach Dickens said: “The team is excited to play against South Africa although they are a little bit of an unknown as they haven’t played any games this year at an international level.
“The opportunities for this group to learn and develop over this series are immense and I’m as excited about the players having meaningful game time as I am the result.”
England U20 team
15 George Hendy, Northampton Saints, Caps 3
14 Tom Litchfield, Northampton Saints, Caps 5
13 Ethan Grayson, Northampton Saints, Caps 5
12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, Wasps, Caps 1
11 Iwan Stephens, Newcastle Falcons, Caps 1
10 Fin Smith, Worcester Warriors, Caps 5
9 Tom Carr-Smith, Bath Rugby, Caps 3
1 Tumy Onasanya, Sale Sharks, Caps 0
2 John Stewart, Bath Rugby, Caps 5
3 Jevaughn Warren, Saracens, Caps 0
4 Ewan Richards, Bath Rugby, Caps 7
5 Lewis Chessum, Leicester Tigers, Caps 3
6 Chandler Cunningham-South, London Irish, Caps 3
7 Emeka Ilione (c), Leicester Tigers, Caps 6
8 Greg Fisilau, Wasps, Caps 2
Replacements
16 Finn Theobald-Thomas, Worcester, Caps 2
17 Andrew Turner, Bristol Bears, Caps 0
18 Mikey Summerfield, London Irish, Caps 5
19 Tom Lockett, Northampton Saints, Caps 4
20 Lucas Brooke, London Irish, Caps 4
21 Ethan Staddon, Bath Rugby, Caps 0
22 Toby Knight, Saracens, Caps 5
23 Charlie Bracken, Saracens, Caps 0
24 Jed Walsh, Leicester Tigers, Caps 0
25 Conor Oresanya, Harlequins, Caps 0
26 Tobi Wilson, Worcester Warriors, Caps 0
UPDATE: England beaten 30-22 by South Africa in opening fixture. Emeka Ilion scored the second of England's three tries and Jed Walsh was on the pitch to play his part in the build-up to the third. South Africa ran in five tries to get off to a winning start.
