Worcester Warriors lock Graham Kitchener can look forward to helping England defend the RBS Under 20 Six Nations on home soil after being confirmed in the Elite Player Squad.
England have made four changes to the squad ahead of the games in March and April – with all home matches being played at Sixways Stadium.
“The four guys coming in deserve their chance and we’re expecting a lot from them,” said England Under 20 coach Mark Mapletoft. “The challenge now is for them to is to push for places in the 22 and into the starting team as well.
“I’m very excited about the group we’ve got and the work that’s already taken place this season. We’ve had some good opportunities to get to work with the players in conjunction with their clubs as well as doing team-building work in camps at Lympstone and in Portugal earlier this season.
“Now we’ll be doing some fine-tuning at the end of the month for a week at Bisham Abbey before going up to Worcester at the start of our Test week before playing Italy.”
England Under 20 EPS: Bob Baker (London Wasps); Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby); Tom Casson (Saracens) ; *Calum Clark (Leeds Carnegie); *James Clark (London Irish); Rory Clegg (Newcastle Falcons); Tom Collett (Leicester Tigers); *Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby); Carl Fearns (Sale Sharks); James Gaskell (Sale Sharks); Jamie George (Saracens); Tom Homer (London Irish); Will Hurrell (Leicester Tigers); *Graham Kitchener (Worcester Warriors); Shaun Knight (Gloucester Rugby); *Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints); David Lewis (Gloucester Rugby); Joe Marler (Harlequins); *Rob Miller (Newcastle Falcons); Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs); Josh Ovens (Bath Rugby); Jacob Rowan (Leeds Carnegie); *Tom Sargeant (Harlequins); *Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby); James Short (Saracens); *Seb Stegmann (Harlequins); Henry Trinder (Gloucester Rugby); *Greig Tonks (Leicester Tigers); Dan White (Leeds Carnegie); Dan Williams (Gloucester Rugby); Chris York (Harlequins); *Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
England’s RBS Under 20 Six Nations fixtures
February 6: England U20 v Italy U20 (Worcester, 8pm)
February 13: Wales U20 v England U20 (Venue TBC, 7.05pm)
February 27: Ireland U20 v England U20 (Athlone, 6.15pm)
March 13: England U20 v France U20 (Worcester, 8pm) Live on SkySports
March 20: England U20 v Scotland (Worcester, 8pm) Live on SkySports
Watch England Under 20s at the home of the Warriors. Buy your tickets by calling 01905 454183 or visiting the online Box Office at www.warriors.co.uk Remember, we are also running a special three for two offer on tickets.