21 May 2008 – England U20s IRB Junior World Championship Squad Selection
Leicester Tigers’ academy pathway is represented at international age-grade level this summer, with two Tigers players selected in the England U20 squad for the IRB Junior World Championship.
An initial 32-man training squad, named in January, included Tigers youngsters Gregor Gillanders, Greig Tonks and Ben Youngs, highlighting the strength of the club’s development system. While Tonks has missed out on the final selection for next month’s tournament in Wales, Gillanders and Youngs have retained their places in the final group.
The side, coached by Nigel Redman and Mark Mapletoft, goes into the championship on the back of a Grand Slam-winning U20 Six Nations campaign. The final 26-man squad, captained by London Wasps No.8 Hugo Ellis, includes 16 players with Guinness Premiership experience, underlining the readiness of the group for the demands of international competition.
England U20 are seeded sixth for the tournament and will contest their Pool C fixtures at Rodney Parade, Newport, facing Fiji U20, Canada U20 and Australia U20 on June 6, 10 and 14 respectively. The squad complete their preparations with a training camp in Bristol this week before reassembling in Newport on June 2, 2008.
Speaking ahead of the tournament, Redman said there had been strong competition for places throughout the squad.
“We’re delighted to be able to announce an exciting group and there was plenty of competition for selection, particularly in the front-row and the back-three. We’ve made good progress this season, but now our focus is fully on the opening game against Fiji.”
Captain Hugo Ellis added that the squad were keen to build on recent success.
“Captaining England at the Junior World Championships is a great honour. We’ve gone from strength to strength over the last few months, but now we have to go into the tournament and earn the respect of our opponents all over again.”
For Tigers, the inclusion of Gregor Gillanders in the forward pack and Ben Youngs among the backs provides further evidence of the academy’s ability to prepare players for international rugby, with both continuing to progress through the club’s development pathway.
England U20 Squad – Junior World Championship 2008
Forwards
Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby)
Calum Clark (Leeds Carnegie)
James Clark (London Irish)
Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
Matthew Cox (Worcester Warriors)
Hugo Ellis (London Wasps)
Jon Fisher (London Irish)
Scott Freer (Leeds Carnegie)
Gregor Gillanders (Leicester Tigers)
Joe Gray (Northampton Saints)
Scott Hobson (Cornish Pirates)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Billy Moss (Bath Rugby)
Ben Thomas (Saracens)
Backs
Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors)
Noah Cato (Saracens)
Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby)
Alex Goode (Saracens)
Rob Miller (Newcastle Falcons)
Mark Odejobi (London Wasps)
Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
Seb Stegmann (Harlequins)
Alex Tait (Newcastle Falcons)
Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)