There are three Leicester Tigers players in the England Under-20s squad selected for the Six Nations Championship to take place in Cardiff later this month.
Scrum-half Jack Van Poortvliet, who has enjoyed a breakthrough year in senior rugby, is joined in the squad by hooker Archie Vanes and back-rower Emeka Ilione in the trio of Tigers academy graduates in the squad announced by head coach Alan Dickens.
Van Poortvliet is among a group of six players who have played at Under-20s levels previously while both Vanes and Ilione have experience in England age-group squads.
Speaking about the selection Dickens said: “In a challenging season, the lads have been excellent and I’ve been pleased we managed to get some gametime along the way.
“Obviously only 32 are fortunate to make the squad but it has certainly been a wider squad effort going all the way back to November last year when we played our first North v South match at St George’s Park.
“We’ve had a couple of camps in the last six weeks which helped bring the group together. The preparation has been good and the commitment from the players has been fantastic."
The Under-20s Six Nations is taking place later than usual this year with England beginning their campaign against France on June 19.
Players and management convene in camp on June 13 before moving on to Wales later that week for the Championship which will all take place at Cardiff Arms Park.
“Staying in one hotel together for 31 days and playing at one venue will be a different experience," said Dickens. “But it’s fantastic that we can get a competition up and running for this generation of players.”
England Under-20s
Forwards
Harvey Beaton (Saracens)
Phil Brantingham (Newcastle Falcons)
Lucas Brooke (London Irish)
Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby)
Jack Clement (Gloucester Rugby)
Luke Green (London Irish)
Alex Groves (Bristol Bears)
Tarek Haffar (London Irish)
Lewis Holsey (Worcester Warriors)
Ethan Hunt (Gloucester Rugby)
Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers)
Nahum Merigan (Bath Rugby)
Ewan Richards (Bath Rugby)
Sam Riley (Harlequins)
Ollie Stonham (Saracens)
Harry Taylor (Gloucester Rugby)
Freddie Thomas (Gloucester Rugby)
Archie Vanes (Leicester Tigers)
Backs
Charlie Atkinson (Wasps)
Seb Atkinson (Worcester Warriors)
Deago Bailey (Bristol Bears)
Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby)
Jack Bates (Bristol Bears)
Louis Hillman-Cooper (Gloucester Rugby)
Dan Lancaster (Leeds Tykes)
Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints)
Tommy Mathews (Northampton Saints)
Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks)
Arthur Relton (Exeter Chiefs)
Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
