Oli Spencer starts for England U20s

Tuesday 02 July 2024 Written by: Mark Smith

Newcastle Falcons’ Oli Spencer starts for England Under-20s on Thursday when they take on Fiji in the World Rugby U20 Championship.

The 20-year-old starts at inside centre as England look to kick on from Saturday’s 41-20 victory over Argentina.

Thursday’s game against Fiji kicks off at 3.30pm UK time and is being live-streamed for free on RugbyPass TV (registration required).

The match at Athlone Stadium in the South African city of Cape Town is the second of three scheduled group games for Six Nations champions England, whose head coach Mark Mapletoft has made 12 changes to his team.

He said: “Argentina was an incredibly demanding opening fixture to start the tournament with, and the team met those tasks and answered the questions posed to them. We believe it’s right to balance the game time throughout the squad, particularly with the quick turnaround between match days.

“It’s a testament to the hard work on and off the pitch that we came through Saturday with a full squad to choose from ahead of Thursday’s Test. Our staff all share a lot of excitement to see these players grab their chance and capitalise on the momentum created from match day one.

“There were many game-changing outputs from players across the match-day squad last time out, and with our consistency in preparation I have every confidence that will translate into a largely new group that are eager to stake their claim.”

England’s final pool game is against host nation South Africa on Tuesday July 9, with Newcastle Falcons’ Ben Redshaw also part of their squad for the tournament, having scored a try in Saturday’s victory over Argentina.

ENGLAND U20S TEAM

15 Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby, Minchinhampton RFC, 5 caps)

14 Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints, Bugbrooke RFC, 6 caps)

13 Ben Waghorn (Harlequins, Chipstead Rugby Club, 7 caps)

12 Oli Spencer (Newcastle Falcons, Epping Rams Rugby, 6 caps)

11 Angus Hall (Saracens, Sevenoaks Rugby Club, uncapped)

10 Benjamin Coen (Exeter Chiefs, Teignmouth RFC, 1 cap)

9 Ollie Allan (Leicester Tigers, Hungerford RFC, 1 cap)

1 Cameron Miell (Leicester Tigers, Paul Roos, 1 cap)

2 James Isaacs (Saracens, Hemel Hempstead Camelot RFC, 4 caps)

3 James Halliwell (Bristol Bears, Thornbury RFC, 10 caps)

4 Harvey Cuckson (Bath Rugby, Mold RFC, 2 caps)

5 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens, Blackheath Rugby Club, 5 caps)

6 Finn Carnduff (captain – Leicester Tigers, Market Harborough RFC, 16 caps)

7 Kane James (Exeter Chiefs, St Peters RFC, 5 caps)

8 Arthur Green (Bath Rugby, Frome RFC, uncapped)

REPLACEMENTS

16 Craig Wright (Northampton Saints, Braintree Rugby Club, 6 caps)

17 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, Broadstreet RFC, 15 caps)

18 Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby, Bishop Wand School, 12 caps)

19 Junior Kpoku (Racing 92, Saracens Amateurs, 5 caps)

20 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, Buckingham Rugby Club, 6 caps)

21 Lucas Friday (Harlequins, Bromley RFC, 1 cap)

22 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins, Rosslyn Park, 5 caps)

23 Alex Wills (Sale Sharks, Droitwich Rugby Club, 8 caps)