Young guns who could hit the mark
U20S WORLD CUP ANALYSIS
Ben Jaycock picks out four likely stars from England’s U20s World Championship and Six Nations winning team
THE current England U20s side is littered with talent everywhere you look such was Mark Mapletoft’s teams dominance of the showpiece tournament but only players in certain positions will be fast tracked to the senior setup.
Six Nations player of the tournament and the group’s biggest star Henry Pollock enjoyed a fine World Championship that saw the Northampton Saints back row named in The Rugby Paper’s Dream Team.
However, back row is one of England’s strongest positions and means the tyro openside flanker is competing against the likes of Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Tom and Ben Curry, meaning a Test call up is unlikely anytime soon. His club Northampton possess a strong batch of opensides with highly rated Tom Pearson difficult to displace as first choice meaning game time may be limited in the short-term.
While back row, scrum-half, fly-half, outside centre and back three are healthily stocked for Steve Borthwick, he does have certain positions that desperately need depth as he builds towards the 2027 World Cup.
England’s scrum struggles were exploited by New Zealand Down Under this month showcasing the need for new props to break through and replace the old guard of Joe Marler and Dan Cole.
The fact England’s scrum hinges on the fitness of Marler, 34, and Cole, 37, is a huge concern considering backup tighthead Will Stuart continues to flatter to deceive at Test level and question marks remain over second choice loosehead Ellis Genge’s scrummaging.
Scrum dominance was the platform for England U20s’ remarkable 2024 with hefty, well rounded set-piece props providing a sigh of relief for Borthwick and his coaching staff.
Asher Opoku-Fordjour, right, can play either side and his scrummaging prowess was shown by him getting the better of Marl-er in the Premiership and going toe to toe with La Rochelle’s behemoths in the Champions Cup. It means the 20-year-old could be the answer to Borthwick’s prayers.
“Borthwick could find some answers to his front row problems in U20s”
Gloucester‘s tighthead Afolabi Fasogbon started the final alongside his best friend Opoku-Fordjour but while the Sale man is 6ft 1in and just over 18 stone, 19-year-old Fasogbon is a colossal man mountain who likes to throw his weight around at 6ft 4in and 21 stone. The issue for Fasogbon is game time with him desperate for starts next season having made so far just a handful of appearances for Gloucester off the bench in the Premiership Cup.
Talismanic captain Finn Carnduff has impressed at blindside flanker, and the 6ft 5in lineout operator can also play in the second row which is another vacancy that needs filling in Borthwick’s squad. George Martin and Maro Itoje have formed a solid starting pair but consistent backup remains a problem. Ollie Chessum looks to be seen as more of a 6 and Charlie Ewels shot himself in the foot having been red carded in his last two Tests against Ireland in 2022 and Japan last month. Alex Coles is the primary back up but Carnduff could provide stellar competition once he breaks into Leicester’s starting pack.
Manu Tuilagi had been England’s go to inside centre between 2011-23 despite his awful injury record, with very little talent across the Premiership to fill in the gaps when the wrecking ball 12 was absent. England thought they finally found their answer in Ollie Lawrence but the Bath man plays his club rugby at 13 and did not provide a huge amount of gain line supremacy on the summer tour to New Zealand. Owen Farrell previously filled in the gaps at 12, as has Henry Slade, but Borthwick has been crying out for an out and out 12 rather than putting a square peg in a round hole.
Across the Premiership since the start of the 2019/20 campaign, all but two of the 13 clubs that have competed in the top flight have predominantly used inside centres ineligible for England. Enter Harlequins’ Sean Kerr, whose phenomenal goal kicking this year put Marcus Smith’s shaky place kicking against the All Blacks to shame. The 19-yearold is more of a distributor rather than a bulldozer but provides an important link to the U20s silky backline. With Andre Esterhuizen leaving Quins to return to South Africa, Kerr should see more game time this year that may attract Borthwick’s attention.
