London Irish Academy’s Rory Taylor has been named to start in Head Coach Jonathan Pendlebury’s England under-18 men’s team to face South Africa under-18s.

The match is the first of three on the under-18 age grade on their summer tour of South Africa this August.

Taylor joined London Irish's Academy set-up at under-13 level and is a product of Irish's strong Development Player Programme (DPP) as a Wellington College student.

The fly-half has been capped at the under-18 age grade last season for England and was joined earlier this year by fellow Academy talents Ollie Allan and Connor Cross in the squad for the Under-18 Six Nations festival.

With the game set to take place on Friday 19 August, KO 14.30 BST, the three-match series takes place at Paarl Gymnasium and will see the team play two games against South Africa under-18s and one against a South Africa under-18 A-side. 

All games will be played at Paarl Gymnasium, 416 Main St, Courtrai, Paarl, 7646.

Supporters will have the chance to viewing the game via https://supersportschools.com or by downloading the app which can be done here. 

 

England under-18 team

15 *Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby, Dean Close School)  

14 Tom Burton (Newcastle Falcons, Sedbergh School)

13 *Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons, Sedbergh School)

12 Sean Kerr (Harlequins, Whitgift School)  

11 *Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints, Oakham School)  

10 *Rory Taylor (London Irish, Wellington College)

9 *Archie McParland (Northampton Saints, Stowe School)  

1 Louie Trevett (Bristol Bears, Clifton College)  

2 Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons, Barnard Castle School) 

3 Billy Sela (Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff)  

4 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens, Gravesend Grammar School)  

5 Tom Burrow (Yorkshire Academy, Heckmondwike Grammar School) 

6 Jack Bennett (Bath Rugby, Monkton Combe School) 

7 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, Stowe School) CAPTAIN

8 Barney Merrett (Saracens, Sutton Valence School)  

 

Replacements

16 Loic Keasey (Worcester Warriors, RGS Worcester)  

17 Alex O’Driscoll (Wasps, Berkhamsted) 

18 Isaac Keller (Newcastle Falcons, Gosforth Academy)

19 Finn Baker (Newcastle Falcons, Sedbergh School)  

20 Will Owen (Worcester Warriors, Ellesmere College)

21 George Perkins (Leicester Tigers, Denstone College)  

22 Will Wootton (Sale Sharks, Sedbergh School) 

23 Raff Weston (Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff)  

24 George Edson (Exeter Chiefs, Truro College) 

25 *Conor Byrne (Harlequins, Trinity College) 

26 *Will Glister (Wasps, City of Oxford College)  

*Capped at under-18 level in the 2021-22 season. 

 

Match schedule: 

19 August, KO, 14.30 BST, South Africa under-18 v England under-18

23 August, KO 12.30 BST, South Africa A v England under-18

27 August, KO 14.30 BST, South Africa under-18 v England under-18