London Irish pair to start for England U18s against Ireland

London Irish Academy's Phil Cokanasiga and Luke Green have been named in the starting XV for England U18s in their second U18 Six Nations Festival fixture against Ireland at Sixways Stadium tomorrow (kick off 13.40pm, live on FreeSports).

Both players came off the bench to assist the side in defeating Wales 38-20 at Gillman’s Ground on Saturday and will get their first starts of the tournament tomorrow.

Mallinder has made several other changes to his side, with hooker John Stewart, lock Ewan Richards, flanker Ollie Stonham and number eight Will Trenholm all also named in the starting line-up. Raffi Quirke starts at scrum half, while Jude Williams, George Worboys and Jack Bates make up a new back three.

England U18s are led by pathway performance coach Mallinder, and consultant coaches including London Irish's Jonathan Fisher, Mark Luffman (Darlington Mowden Park) and Sean Marsden (Bristol Bears) for the season.

The festival, which is being hosted by England Rugby at Hartpury University and College, will see three sets of fixtures at Gillman’s Ground, Sixways Stadium and Kingsholm, all live via FreeSports TV.

Jim Mallinder said: “We were generally quite pleased with the first outing against Wales but there are still lots of areas where we can improve as a team so that’s what we’ll be aiming to do.

“In the set piece we didn’t get much ball in the second half so we’re working on that and we want to play with a bit more continuity and an attacking intent.

“We’ve watched Ireland, we know they are a quality side and were unfortunate not to beat France in the first match of the festival so we know we are going to have to play well and defend well.

“It’s very difficult when you only come together for one-off games so it’s been great to have everyone together for a longer period and we’ve had a good build up to Wednesday’s game and feel we’re making good progress as a team.”

England U18s side

15. George Worboys, Bath Rugby (Beechen Cliff)
14. Jack Bates, Bristol Bears (SGS College)
13. Tom Roebuck, Sale Sharks (Wirral Grammar)
12. Phil Cokanasiga, London Irish (St Pauls College)
11. Jude Williams, Wasps (Caterham School)
10. Orlando Bailey, Bath Rugby (Beechen Cliff School)
9. Raphael Quirke, Sale Sharks (St Ambrose College)
1. Luke Green, London Irish (St Paul’s Catholic College)
2. John Stewart, Bath Rugby (Beechen Cliff School)
3. Fin Baxter, Harlequins (Wellington College)
4. George Martin, Leicester Tigers (Brooksby Melton College)
5. Ewan Richards, Bath Rugby (Millfield School)
6. Ollie Stonham, Saracens (Felsted School)
7. Josh Gray, Gloucester Rugby (Dean Close School)
8. Will Trenholm, Harlequins (Cranleigh School)

Replacements

16. Sam Riley, Harlequins (St George's Weybridge)
17. Phil Brantingham, Newcastle Falcons (Royal Grammar School)
18. Jenson Boughton, Gloucester Rugby (Hartpury College)
19. Archie Benson, Gloucester Rugby (Dean Close School)
20. Jack Clement, Gloucester Rugby (Cheltenham College)
21. Jack van Poortvliet, Leicester Tigers (Oakham School)
22. Tom Curtis, Sale Sharks (Sedbergh School)
23. Joe Carpenter, Yorkshire Carnegie (Woodhouse Grove)

Festival fixtures

Matchday one - Saturday 13 April – live on FreeSports

Gillman’s Ground, Gloucester
England 38-20 Wales          
Ireland 24-29 France
Scotland 18-19 Italy

Matchday two - Wednesday 17 April – live on FreeSports

Sixways Stadium, Worcester

11:10    France v Italy
13:40    Ireland v England
16:10    Wales v Scotland

Matchday three - Sunday 21 April – live on FreeSports

Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester

11:10    Scotland v Ireland
13.40    England v France
16:10    Italy v Wales