England U18 squad named for SA tour

England Under 18 coaches John Fletcher, Pete Walton and Ian Peel have named their squad for the summer tour to South Africa where they will play Wales, France and South Africa.
The reigning European champions head to the Rainbow Nation having already chalked up victories against Wales and France this season
However, Fletcher says that it will all be very different when the sides come together next month.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s been a while since we were last together but the lads are in good shape and we can’t wait to get out there. Previous results count for very little, Wales are taking a different group of players and France will be tough, as ever.
“We know that we’re going to have to play well and perform somewhere near our best to stand any chance of winning. But the aim is to play as well as we can, and if that means we win games, even better.”
England‘s game against South Africa on August 18 promises to be another tough match, but again, one that Fletcher is hugely excited by.
“It’s a tough, tough place to go and play rugby – as the seniors and the Under 20s proved this summer – they are a proud nation and they love their rugby. It’s the third time we’ve been out there with the Under 18s and it’s always a good test.
“A few years back we had the likes of Owen Farrell, Jonathan Joseph, Matt Kvesic and George Ford in with us, three years later and they’re all in the senior set up – so the value of these tours and getting the guys together and playing the best rugby nations is massive.”
England U18 Squad
Stephen Uren, Joel Conlon, Charlie Ewels, Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, David Hughes, Maro Itoje, Sam James, Gus Jones, Alex Lundberg, Ross Moriarty, Jake Oldaker, Harry Rudkin, Harry Thacker, Biyi Alo, Callum Braley, Billy Burns, Nick Carpenter, George Catchpole, Ollie Claxton, Nathan Earle, Zach Kibirige, Sam Olver, Howard Packman, Tom Stephenson, Nick Tompkins, Josh Watkins
Tour itinerary
England U18 v Wales U18 – August 10, Wellington
England U18 v France U18 – August 14, George
South Africa U18 v England U18 – August 18, Cape Town