Mallinder to captain England U20s in JWC opener

Harry Mallinder will captain England U20s against Italy in their opening game of the Junior World Championship at the Manchester City Academy tonight.
Given squad captain Jack Walker is named on the bench, Mallinder will lead the side with Jack Singleton, who scored four tries against Italy in the Six Nations, starting at hooker.
Four players in the match day 23 make their debuts at this level with Darren Atkins, Mallinder, Theo Brophy-Clews and Billy Walker in the starting line-up.
Johnny Williams, who missed the Six Nations due to commitments with London Irish, and Harry Randall, who steps up from the Under 18s, could also win their first caps off the bench.
Head Caoch Martin Haag said: “Training has been fantastic. The boys have really bought into what we are trying to achieve on the field but I’m also really pleased with how they are gelling as a squad off the field.
“When you come together with players and staff from all different rugby backgrounds it can sometimes be hard to quickly gel but we have a real sense of togetherness and an incredible team spirit.
“I’m delighted with how the first couple of days have gone but the real test is how we perform in games and the squad can’t wait to get started.
“We have done our analysis on Italy but the priority in training has been what we can do as a team, how we constantly improve and drive standards.
“We want our play to have its own identity and have concentrated on that.  We know that Italy are going to be stronger than they were in the Six Nations and will pose us some real problems but we are also looking forward to reacting to the opportunities we get through both attack and defence.”
England U20s: Darren Atkins (Bath); Sam Aspland-Robinson (Harlequins), Joe Marchant (Harlequins), Harry Mallinder (Northampton, Capt.), Ollie Thorley (Gloucester); Theo Brophy-Clews (London Irish), Max Green (Yorkshire Carnegie); Tom West (Wasps), Jack Singleton (Worcester), Billy Walker (Saracens); Andrew Kitchener (Worcester), Huw Taylor (Worcester); George Nott (Sale), Jack Willis (Wasps), Callum Chick (Newcastle)
Replacements:  Jack Walker (Yorkshire Carnegie), Lewis Boyce (Yorkshire Carnegie), Will Stuart (Wasps), Zach Mercer (Bath), Josh Bainbridge (Yorkshire Carnegie), Harry Randall (Gloucester), Johnny Williams (London Irish), Max Malins (Saracens)