Corbisiero and Fisher start for England Under 20 side

Alex Corbisiero and Jon Fisher, both members of the London Irish Academy squad, will start for the England Under 20 side when they kick-off their Six Nations campaign against Wales at Gloucester tomorrow night (kick-off: 7.45pm).

Corbisiero starts in the front row at tighthead prop with Fisher occupying the blindside flanker position in the back row.

“We believe we’ve got a good balance to the side with lots of pace in the back three, power in midfield and a very mobile and athletic pack,” said coach Nigel Redman. “We’re very excited about working with this group of players.

“They’ve made a lot of progress over the last six months as many of those who were involved in last year’s Under 19s were still at school and now they’re fully integrated into club programmes and getting a lot of game time.”

The competition for places has hotted up too, according to the former Bath,Englandand Lions lock. “Competition for places is part of the culture of the side and very important for its development. We’re seeing that in lots of areas, particularly in the back three where there are four quick wings all putting pressure on each other.”

Wales are particularly strong at age-group level and Redman warned that they might be this season’s toughest opponents.

“Wales have produced some terrific young players and traditionally do very well at this level – they’re consistently good at the 18, 19 and 20 age groups,” he said. “We’re expecting the same from them tomorrow and that they’ll bring a tough physical test and a high skill level to the game.”

England Under 20 team vWales

(at Gloucester, Friday, February 1, 7.45pm)

15 Greig Tonks (Leicester Tigers)

14 Noah Cato (Saracens)

13 Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby)

12JordanTurner-Hall (Harlequins)

11 Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors)

10 Alex Goode (Saracens)

9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

1 Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby)

2 Joe Gray (Northampton Saints)

3 Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)