Jack Van Poortvliet will captain England Under-20s when they kick off their Six Nations campaign against France on Saturday.
Scrum-half Van Poortvliet was part of the Under-20s squad last year and has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign with Leicester Tigers having just passed 20 first-team appearances for the club.
He is joined in the team to face France by clubmate Archie Vanes who makes his Under-20s debut at hooker, with back-rower Emeka Ilione among the replacements in his first involvement at this level. All three are graduates of the Tigers academy programme.
Due to Covid-19 regulations, teams are permitted to name a squad of 26 players for each fixture in this year’s competition.
England Under-20s head coach Alan Dickens said: “We’ve had a really good training week and the attitude and commitment from the lads has been outstanding.
“On Tuesday we were able to have a joint session with Eddie Jones and the senior team. It was fantastic to be able to incorporate that into our preparation for the Six Nations, but also for players to experience what it’s like at the next level.
“For many of them, it’s their first Six Nations and that will be a very special moment that I want them to remember on Saturday night.
“We’re looking forward to getting out on pitch at Cardiff Arms Park now, putting in an 80-minute performance and kicking off our Six Nations campaign.”
Kick-off in Cardiff is at 5.00pm on Saturday and there is live coverage on BBC iPlayer.
England Under-20s
15 Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby)
14 Deago Bailey (Bristol Rugby)
13 Jack Bates (Bristol Rugby)
12 Dan Lancaster (Leeds Tykes)
11 Arthur Relton (Exeter Chiefs)
10 Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors)
9 Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)* (c)
1 Lewis Holsey (Worcester Warriors)
2 Archie Vanes (Leicester Tigers)
3 Luke Green (London Irish)*
4 Ewan Richards (Bath Rugby)
5 Alex Groves (Bristol Bears)
6 Freddie Thomas (Gloucester Rugby)
7 Lucas Brooke (London Irish)
8 Jack Clement (Gloucester Rugby)*
Replacements
16 Sam Riley (Harlequins)*
17 Phil Brantingham (Newcastle Falcons)
18 Harvey Beaton (Saracens)*
19 Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby)
20 Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers)
21 Nahum Merigan (Bath Rugby)
22 Tom Carr-Smith (Bath Rugby)
23 Tommy Mathews (unattached)
24 Phil Cokanasiga (London Irish)
25 Louis Hillman-Cooper (Gloucester Rugby)
26 Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints)
*Previously capped at Under-20s
