England Under 20s Head Coach Steve Bates has named three Warriors in his side for the World Rugby U20 Championship opener against Argentina on Wednesday in Narbonne (kick-off 5.30pm BST).
Back row Ted Hill and lock James Scott both start while hooker Beck Cutting is named on the bench for the clash at Stade d’Honneur du Parc des Sports et de l’Amitié.
England Under 20s have reached the final in five consecutive years, winning three (2013, 2014, 2016) and since 2008 they have reached eight out of the ten finals, including last year in Georgia.
Following Wednesday’s fixture, England face Italy (June 3, 3.30pm BST) in Perpignan and Scotland (June 7, 8pm BST) in Pool B at Beziers’ Stade de la Méditerranée.
Narbonne and Perpignan will host the semi-finals and ranking play-offs on June 12, with Beziers hosting all finals day matches on June 17 across two pitches.
Head Coach Bates said: “We’ve had a really good period of preparation ahead of this tournament with a hugely beneficial fixture against South Africa and a training session with Wales. It’s really helped to focus the minds of the players and we’ve seen a further improvement in training ahead of our first match of the championship against Argentina.
“I want to see us play with a bit more patience on Wednesday, I don’t want us to lower our intensity, but if we play as we did during the Six Nations then we have the ability to create a lot of opportunities and we need to be patient in how we execute those chances. We know the importance of winning every game in this tournament, and we need to go out on Wednesday with a real intent to get this campaign off to a positive start.
“We have an excellent squad of players, every position is competitive and this is an exciting England team that I’m looking forward to seeing perform on the world stage.”
England U20s
15. Tom Parton (London Irish)
14. Ali Crossdale (Saracens)
13. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)
12. Tom Hardwick (Leicester Tigers)
11. Jordan Olowofela (Leicester Tigers)
10. James Grayson (Northampton Saints)
9. Ben White (Leicester Tigers)
1. Toby Trinder (Northampton Saints)
2. Henry Walker (Gloucester Rugby)
3. Ehren Painter (Northampton Saints)
4. Joel Kpoku (Saracens)
5. James Scott (Worcester Warriors)
6. Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors)
7. Ben Curry (C) (Sale Sharks)
8. Josh Basham (London Irish)
Replacements
16. Beck Cutting (Worcester Warriors)
17. Alex Seville (Gloucester Rugby)
18. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
19. Sam Lewis (Leicester Tigers)
20. Tom Willis (Wasps)
21. Rory Brand (London Irish)
22. Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
23. Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins)
England U20 fixtures
England vs Argentina | Wednesday 30 May | Kick-off 5.30pm BST | Stade d’Honneur du Parc des Sports et de l’Amitié, Narbonne | Highlights on ITV Sport at midnight
England vs Italy | Sunday 3 June | Kick-off 3.30pm BST | Stade Aimé Giral, Perpignan | Highlights on ITV Sport at 11pm
England vs Scotland | Thursday 7 June | Kick-off 8pm BST | Stade de la Méditerranée, Beziers | Highlights on ITV Sport at midnight
Semi-finals and ranking play-offs | June 12 | Narbonne and Perpignan
Finals day | June 17 | Beziers