England have been told to forget about their glory days in this season’s RBS Six Nations as they prepare to kick off their bid for the IRB Junior World Championship title.

The Under 20s start their campaign in Newport on Friday night against Pool C opponents Fiji (7pm) before facing Canada (June 10, 5pm) and Australia (June 14, 3pm) at Rodney Parade.

They go into the tournament after scoring 20 tries in completing a Grand Slam with Saracens wing Noah Cato touching down six in the five games.

But head coach Nigel Redman emphasised the need to move on when the tournament was officially launched at the Welsh National Assembly building on the Cardiff Bay waterfront this week.

“It’s really important that we learn from the Six Nations, then draw a line under it,” said Redman.

“We come in as sixth seeds and we’ve got to make sure we string performances together, play with consistency and that the bar is raised.

“The Six Nations finished three months ago and now it’s up to us to recreate our game in Newport and create a bit of noise there.”

England’s 26-man squad includes 15 survivors from the IRB Under 19 Championship in Belfast with notable additions this season in Leeds Carnegie flanker Calum Clark, Leicester Tigers scrum half Ben Youngs and Harlequins centre Jordan Turner-Hall.

All three have made impressive contributions in the Guinness Premiership this season, while Worcester wing Miles Benjamin has scored 15 first team tries for the Warriors and a 16th on his only international appearance for the Under 20 side.

“We’ve increased the standard this season,” said Redman. “We selected from just one year group last season. This time of the squad of 26 we’ve selected, there are 11 who weren’t involved in Belfast.

“And we have to look forward in other ways as well. Our primary job is to give players experience to go on in the professional game and to raise the standard of individuals within the team.

“We’ve got eight players here who are a year young – at nine, 10, in the centre and on both wings, at hooker, second row and back row – who come here as good players and that experience will be invaluable next year.”

New Zealand are top seeds after lifting the Under 19 trophy in Belfast following their victory over South Africa at Ravenhill. England’s Pool C opponents Australia edged out Wales in the third place play-off while France beat England to finish fifth.

“New Zealand deserved their title, played a high-octane brand of rugby, off-loaded well and were defensively strong,” said Redman.

“They, Australia, South Africa and France will all be strong and Wales are at home and have showed this year that they’ve improved as well.”

England will be captained by London Wasps No 8 Hugo Ellis, one of four high-quality back-row specialists in the group alongside Clark, Matt Cox (Worcester) and Jon Fisher (London Irish).

Ellis said: “We certainly won’t fear anyone. The likes of New Zealand and Australia will go into the tournament with confidence and all the attention but that suits us fine. We’ll keep our heads down and know we have to go out and earn the respect of sides all over again.

“This is the best age-group squad I’ve been involved with, better than the one that finished third in the Under-19 Tournament in Dubai in 2006. We don’t have any superstars but we do have high quality in every position and real competition for places.

“There’s a really great spirit in our camp, we work hard in training, socialise together a lot and we take that out on the field with us. Together I’m sure we’ll rise to the challenge of playing the best in the world.”

ends

ENGLAND UNDER 20 SQUAD

Forwards (14)
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 (12)
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)

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, June 6: England v Fiji, Newport, 7pm
Tuesday, June 10: England v Canada, Newport, 5pm
Saturday, June 14: Australia v England, Newport, 3pm
Wednesday, June 18: Match day four
Sunday, June 22: Finals day

---