Charlie Griffin, Ralph McEachran and Kepu Tuipulotu have all been named as starters for Jonathan Pendlebury’s side as England under-18 prepare to take on Italy under-18 in round two of the Under-18 Men’s Six Nations Festival in Dublin.
The game will take place this Wednesday 12th April (KO 15:15) and will be available to watch on the Six Nations Rugby digital channels.
The three Exiles were involved as replacements off the bench in a narrow 23-22 loss to France to open their Six Nations campaign on Saturday (8th), where Kepu Tuipulotu scored.
He will make his first competitive start for his country tomorrow alongside Clubmate Ralph McEachran, who gets his first start in the tournament, and Bath Rugby’s Billy Sela.
Charlie Griffin also gets his first start at under-18s level and partners captain Ben Radshaw and Harlequins’ Conor Byrne in the back three.
At the 2023 festival, men’s teams will play three standalone 70-minute fixtures, with every player looking to start at least one game with rolling substitutions throughout to ensure the best development opportunity for the athletes across the festival.
Pendlebury said: “Our match against France was very competitive, and while we lost by the barest of margins, there were many positives to come from the pitch.
“The lads expressed themselves well in open play and there were also encouraging moves from set piece.
“The Six Nations Festival is a great environment for the England players to develop individually and as a team, so they’ll take away a lot of experience from that opening clash.
“We’re now focused on our second-round fixture tomorrow.
“Italy won their opening match by punishing Wales for their mistakes.
“We also know they can score from anywhere, so it’s critical we play well as a unit and the players give it their all for teammates and country.”
Under-18 Men’s Six Nations Festival remaining fixtures:
Italy v England – Wednesday, 12 April – KO 15:15
Ireland v England – Sunday, 16 April – KO 16:30
England men’s U18 v Italy U18
1 Ralph McEachran (Academy: London Irish, School: The Bishop Wand School)
2 Kepueli Tuipulotu (London Irish, Harrow School)
3 Billy Sela (Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff)
4 Oscar Beckerleg (Exeter Chiefs, Truro College)
5 Tom Burrow (Yorkshire Academy, Heckmondwike GS)
6 George Timmins (Bath Rugby, Millfield School)
7 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, Stowe School)
8 Jack Lightbown (Sale Sharks, The Sixth Form Bolton)
9 Lucas Friday (Harlequins, Trinity School)
10 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins, Trinity School)
11 Conor Byrne (Harlequins, Trinity School)
12 Charlie Myall (Midlands Central, City of Oxford College)
13 Ollie Davies (Sale Sharks, Kirkham Grammar)
14 Charlie Griffin (London Irish, Harrow School)
15 Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons, Sedbergh School)
Replacements
16 Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons, Barnard Castle School)
17 Louie Trevett (Bristol Bears, Clifton College)
18 Tye Raymont (Yorkshire Academy, Bishop Burton College)
19 Junior Kpoku (Finborough School)
20 Reuben Logan (Midlands Central, Berkhamsted School)
21 Will Owen (Midlands West, Ellesmere College)
22 Archie McParland (Northampton Saints, Stowe School)
23 Tom Threlfall (Leicester Tigers, Nottingham High)
24 Toby Baker (Yorkshire Academy, St Peters School)
25 Jack Bracken (Saracens, St Albans School)
26 Ned McCormack (Yorkshire Academy, Woodhouse Grove)
Ad Space