Louie Johnson off to U20s World Cup in South Africa

Monday 05 June 2023 Written by: Adam


The 19-year-old Cumbrian is part of a 30-man group for the tournament which sees England playing pool games against Ireland, Fiji and Australia.

Penrith native Johnson featured for England on their recent two-match tour of Georgia, with England Under-20s head coach Mark Mapletoft saying: “Congratulations to all players selected. The World Rugby U20 Championship is the peak of the age-grade calendar year and for many this will be the highlight of their rugby journeys so far.

“The players have learned a lot as a team and about themselves this year, including during our Six Nations campaign and on our recent tour of Georgia, and we’ll be better as a group for it.

“This is the first time since 2019 that the World Rugby U20 Championship has been played, so we’re very excited to take this squad to South Africa and test ourselves against the world’s best teams.

“Our squad reflects the diversity and strength of English rugby with every Premiership club represented, and we trust each player to play with pride every time they pull on an England shirt.”

England will convene for a training camp on at Pennyhill Park in Surrey on June 17 before heading out for the tournament in South Africa’s Western Cape, which runs from June 24 until July 14.

England’s fixtures in the group stage are as follows:

**Sat June 24:** v Ireland (12:30pm BST).

**Thu June 29:** v Fiji (6pm BST).

**Tue July 4:** v Australia (1pm BST).

[**Click here**][1] to visit the tournament website.

**ENGLAND UNDER-20S SQUAD**

**Forwards**

Harry Browne (Harlequins)

Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers)

Zach Carr (Harlequins)

Lewis Chessum (Leicester Tigers – captain)

Ethan Clarke (Harlequins)

Harvey Cuckson (Bath Rugby)

Chandler Cunningham-South (London Irish)

Afolabi Fasogbon (London Irish)

Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)

James Halliwell (Bristol Bears)

Nathan Jibulu (Harlequins)

Archie McArthur (Gloucester)

Nathan Michelow (Saracens)

Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)

Finn Theobald-Thomas (Gloucester)

Tristan Woodman (Sale Sharks)

Craig Wright (Northampton Saints)

**Backs**

Charlie Bracken (Saracens)

Cassius Cleaves (Harlequins)

Jacob Cusick (Leicester Tigers)

Tobias Elliott (Saracens)

Sam Harris (Bath Rugby)

Joe Jenkins (Bristol Bears)

Louie Johnson (Newcastle Falcons)

Rekeiti Ma’asi-White (Sale Sharks)

Toby Thame (Northampton Saints)

Nye Thomas (Sale Sharks)

Connor Slevin (Harlequins)

Alex Wills (Sale Sharks)

Joseph Woodward (Leicester Tigers)

[1]: https://www.world.rugby/tournaments/u20/championship