England U20 team to face Ireland

England Under 20s wing Howard Packman

Wing Howard Packman comes in for his first start at his home ground, and there are also first starts of the season for IRB Junior World Championship winners Harry Sloan and Scott Wilson.

The other changes see Alex Lundberg, Harry Thacker and Joel Conlon all come into the side and Nick Walshe’s men will be aiming for their second win of this season’s Under 20 Six Nations.

Walshe said: “It’s great to have this depth within our squad and we’re pleased to welcome back players with the experience that both Harry and Scott possess. Obviously it’s fantastic for Scott that he’s had recognition from the Saxons already this season, but his job, and our job, is to go out and perform well against Ireland on Saturday.

“The guys have trained well this week and heading back to Franklin’s Gardens is always special. It’s a proper rugby venue, we had a good win against Italy there last season and we’ll be looking to go out there and play as well as we can in front of a good home crowd.”

England U20 starting XV against Ireland

15 Nathan Earle (Saracens)
14 Zach Kibirige (Newcastle Falcons)
13 Nick Tompkins (Saracens)
12 Harry Sloan (Harlequins)
11 Howard Packman (Northampton Saints)
10 Billy Burns (Gloucester Rugby)
9 Callum Braley (Bristol Rugby, captain)

1 Alex Lundberg (London Wasps)
2 Harry Thacker (Leicester Tigers)
3 Scott Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)
4 Maro Itoje (Saracens)
5 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
6 Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby)
7 Joel Conlon (Exeter Chiefs)
8 James Chisholm (Harlequins)

Replacements:

16 Jack Walker (Leeds Carnegie)
17 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Northampton Saints)
18 Paul Hill (Leeds Carnegie)
19 Tom Ellis (Bath Rugby)
20 Gus Jones (London Wasps)
21 Henry Taylor (Loughborough University)
22 Sam  Olver (Northampton Saints)
23 Henry Purdy (Leicester Tigers)