Hodge starts at full-back while fly-half Haydon Wood is on the bench, having impressed for England Under-19s in their away win over Wales three weeks ago.

Friday’s game is a 7pm kick-off and will be streamed live on [**www.englandrugby.com**][1] .

England Under-20s head coach Steve Bates said: “This is an opportunity for these players to stake a claim for a spot in our squad for the World Rugby U20 Championship and that is how we are approaching the game.

“It is very timely in terms of when the squad for the Championship gets picked, and for some it could be a very important fixture to get a place on the plane to Argentina.

“Last year’s match against South Africa was an important match in that it highlighted areas we needed to tighten before we played our first fixture at the Championship in France, while it also gave us an opportunity to play against one of the main contenders for the tournament.

“We learned a lot about their physicality and how they played, and it proved to be a real eye-opener for the squad as to what to expect from one of the southern hemisphere nations.”

**England U20s**

15 Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons)

14 Charlie Powell (Bristol Bears)

13 Sam Spink (Wasps)

12 Connor Doherty (Sale Sharks)

11 Jake Morris (Gloucester Rugby)

10 Manu Vunipola (Saracens)

9 Gus Warr (Sale Sharks)

1 Olly Adkins (Gloucester Rugby)

2 Alfie Barbeary (Wasps)

3 Marcus Street (Exeter Chiefs)

4 Joel Kpoku (Saracens)

5 James Scott (Worcester Warriors)

6 Tom Willis (Wasps – captain)

7 Andy Christie (Saracens)

8 Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs)

**Replacements**

16 Kai Owen (Worcester Warriors)

17 Ben Atkins (London Irish)

18 Alfie Petch (Exeter Chiefs)

19 Jon Kpoku (Saracens)

20 Izaiha Moore-Aiono (London Irish)

21 Ollie Fox (Yorkshire Carnegie)

22 Will Haydon Wood (Newcastle Falcons)

23 Jack Reeves (Gloucester Rugby)

[1]: http://www.englandrugby.com