Youngsters ready to make their mark

Ben Jaycock talks to England head coach Jonathan Pendlebury ahead of the U18s tour to South Africa

ENGLAND U18 SQUAD

FORWARDS

Diamond Ayiehfor (Leicester, Warwick School, 0 caps) Jonno Balding (Gloucester, Radley College, 3 caps) Ben Beere (Leicester, Stamford School, 0 caps) Matthew Branch-Holland (Saracens, Ravens Wood, 0 caps) Tom Davis (Sale, St Mary's College, Crosby, 0 caps) Tom Dye (Northampton, Ipswich School, 1 cap)

Patrick Hogg (Newcastle, Durham School, 4 caps)

Ollie Hull (Northampton, Stamford School, 0 caps)

Elvis Kitenge-Fuki (Newcastle, Gosforth Academy, 0 caps) Jack Marshall (Saracens, The Campion School, 0 caps) Jack Murphy (Saracens, Colfes, 0 caps)

Oscar Thomas (Bath, Wellington College, 0 caps)

Conor Treacy (Bath, Beechen Cliff, 7 caps)

Elliot Williams (Harlequins, Gordon's School, 3 caps)

BACKS

Noah Caluori (Saracens, Mill Hill School, 0 caps) Felix Champain (Harlequins, Worth School, 2 caps) Finn Keylock (Saracens, Bishop Wand School, 0 caps) James Linegar (Bath, Kingswood School, 4 caps) Ben Morrow (Saracens, Millfield, 0 caps)

George Newman (Exeter, Truro College, 0 caps)

Julian Nunn (Bath, Beechen Cliff, 0 caps)

Fraser Rawlins (Saracens, Haileybury, 2 caps)

Asa Stewart-Harris (Saracens, St Albans, 0 caps) Cameron Ward (Bath, Cranleigh School, 0 caps) Sam Winters (Bath, Harrow School, 0 caps)

Victor Worsnip (Bristol, Clifton College, 0 caps)

FIXTURES

England v Ireland: Monday August 12, 12.30pm England v South Africa: Tuesday August 20, 12.30pm

ENGLAND TEAM TO FACE IRELAND

Winters; Caluori, Worsnip, Champain, Nunn; Linegar, Stewart-Harris; Dye, Davis, Beere, Williams, Balding, Hogg (c), Marshall, Treacy

Replacements: Thomas, Kitenge-Fuki, Ayiehfor, Murphy, Hull, Branch-Holland, Newman, Keylock, Ward, Rawlins, Morrow

ENGLAND U18s are embarking on a short tour of South Africa next week and, after the U20s' World Championship triumph this summer, players are keen to impress as they look to progress along the pathway.

Jonathan Pendlebury's side face Ireland on Monday and then hosts South Africa the following Tuesday. They had been scheduled to play France on Friday, but following the tragic news on Wednesday that 17-year-old Medhi Narjissi had been lost at sea, the French squad has withdrawn from the tournament.

In 2023 England enjoyed a successful tour, beating Western Province and France comfortably before a hard-fought defeat to South Africa. With the series expanding this summer, England will be keen for another strong showing.

Only eight players have been capped at U18 level before with Pendlebury naming a relatively inexperienced 26-man squad. All 10 Premiership clubs are represented with Saracens having the most inclusions on eight, with Bath – the U18 Academy League champions – next on six. Leicester, Northampton, Newcastle and Harlequins have two each, while Gloucester, Sale, Exeter and Bristol have solitary representatives.

Newcastle back row Patrick Hogg captains the group and head coach Pendlebury is excited about his squad's development. He told The Rugby Paper: “They are a big bunch that can eat – the hotel in Gloucester we stayed in couldn't get the food out quick enough!

“They are a tall, athletic group with clear ability in their pace and power. There's certainly a number that are showing potential in their game understanding and technical ability. Earlier this year, we gave players leadership responsibilities whether it's captain, leading defence or attack, or a set-piece/sub unit. If they weren't leading on the pitch with an armband, they might have been leading in a team meeting.”

“They are a tall, athletic group with clear ability in their pace and power”

The group will be using momentum from the U20s World Championship and Six Nations triumph which completed an unbeaten 2024 for Mark Mapletoft's side.

Angus Hall, Jack Bracken and Lucas Friday all toured South Africa with the U18s last summer before being crowned age-grade world champions last month. Pendlebury said: “That was amazing to see, Tofty (Mark Mapletoft), Tits (Andy Titterell) and all the other guys that have been involved in that group across the last couple of seasons deserve a lot of credit.

“Mark worked with me in the U18s a couple of years ago and seeing his rise is fantastic. It's always a different U20s group for every Six Nations, so there are great stories to tell to this group like ‘this player a year or two years ago was in South Africa on tour with the U18s, so that could be you in one or two years'.

“We kept in touch with the U20s, there were a few Zoom calls and texts. Receiving a text from Tofty or the other staff to say how well we've continued developing in the last few years meant a lot. Common language around how we attack and defend creates important buzz words for lads.”

Pendlebury, below, insists that they'll be focusing on themselves more than the opposition but is eager to head out to the rugby-obsessed Rainbow Nation that takes age-grade rugby incredibly seriously.

He added: “Some of the crowds they can get to their games are impressive. They often close down the school for the afternoon and let all the kids come to the side of the pitch and watch.

“The South Africans will have a lot of family and friends down to their games. Rugby is huge in their country. The senior side are going into the Rugby Championship at the minute, so there's always rugby on the TV, they even show our games which is brilliant! You'll often come back from a game and there's a replay of it being televised across the nation. So, our lads are eating dinner and watching the game back which is pretty cool for them. South Africa have just come off their regional academy leagues after their school campaign, so are building up to this nicely at the end of their U18 season.”