There are three Leicester Tigers senior academy players in a 32-man England squad to travel to Italy this week for the Six Nations Under-20 Summer Series.
The Summer Series takes place in Treviso and Verona, and includes the Six Nations unions plus Georgia and South Africa, providing a regional alternative to the postponed World Rugby Under-20 Championship that will return in 2023.
Emeka Ilione, who has been capped six times at this level, will captain the squad again after taking the role for the final two games of the Six Nations Championship and is joined in the squad by fellow Tigers players Lewis Chessum and Jed Walsh.
Head coach Alan Dickens said: “We’ve had a productive time in camp over the past week and two successful training games against Scotland that have provided great match play opportunities as we prepare for the summer series.
“We’ve got a great mix of players in the squad, some with experience of playing at Under-20 level already and a number of players who are new to the squad. I’m really pleased with the way they are all supporting and learning from one another.
“We have challenging opposition in our pool games against South Africa, France and Ireland. We’ve prepared well and the squad looks forward to the challenges an international series such as this provides."
Every game of the Summer Series will be streamed via the Six Nations Rugby U20 YouTube channel.
England Under-20 squad
Charlie Bracken (Saracens) caps 0
Lucas Brooke (London Irish) caps 4
Tom Carr-Smith (Bath Rugby) caps 3
Lewis Chessum (Leicester Tigers) caps 3
Chandler Cunningham-South (London Irish) caps 3
Greg Fisilau (Wasps) caps 2
Ollie Fletcher (Newcastle) caps 1
Ethan Grayson (Northampton Saints) caps 5
Alex Harmes (London Irish) caps 0
Sam Harris (Bath Rugby) caps 0
George Hendy (Northampton Saints) caps 3
Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers) caps 6
Louie Johnson (Newcastle Falcons) caps 5
Toby Knight (Saracens) caps 5
Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints) caps 5
Tom Lockett (Northampton Saints) caps 4
Rekeiti Ma’asi-White (Wasps) caps 1
Archie McArthur (Wasps) caps 2
Tumy Onasanya (Sale Sharks) caps 0
Conor Oresanya (Harlequins) caps 0
Charlie Rice (Bristol Bears) caps 3
Ewan Richards (Bath Rugby) caps 7
Ethan Staddon (Bath Rugby) caps 0
Finn Theobald-Thomas (Worcester) caps 2
Andrew Turner (Bristol Bears) caps 0
Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors) caps 5
Iwan Stephens (Newcastle Falcons) caps 1
John Stewart (Bath Rugby) caps 5
Mikey Summerfield (London Irish) caps 5
Jed Walsh (Leicester Tigers) caps 0
Jevaughn Warren (Saracens) caps 0
Tobi Wilson (Worcester Warriors) caps 0
