Four Warriors start for England Under 20s

Butler, Scott, Hill and Cutting to start against Scotland

Four Warriors youngsters will be involved in England Under 20s’ final Pool B clash of the World Rugby U20 Championship against Scotland on Thursday (kick-off 8pm BST).

Will Butler, James Scott, Ted Hill and Beck Cutting have all been named in the starting line-up as England search for their third win in as many games.

The side will be captained by scrum-half Ben White, while Cutting joins Ciaran Knight and Aaron Hinkley in making their first starts of the tournament.

England have so far recorded two bonus-point victories over Argentina (39-18) and Italy (43-5) in the tournament, sealing their place in the semi-finals as a result.

England U20s Head Coach Steve Bates said: “The challenge is always going to be one of improvement as we go through this tournament.

“The first two games have been good but there are still things we need to work on. We recognise that this fixture is a good opportunity for us to keep progressing and to build momentum so there is a pressure on this group to ensure we don’t drop our intensity or pace.

“We need to cut out some of the errors that crept into our game in the last match. We won the ball well, we scrummaged well but we have to be a little more accurate with the ball when we get it, keep it, be patient and if we do that then we will stretch sides.

“Scotland have been really competitive in the two games they have played so far and although we have beaten those two teams we’ve had to work pretty hard to do it.

“The rivalry between the two nations will be a part of this game and I think the fact they beat us in the Six Nations will also be a factor and will no doubt raise the intensity of both sides.”

England U20s
15 James Grayson (Northampton Saints)
14 Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins)
13 Jordan Olowofela (Leicester Tigers)
12 Will Butler (Worcester Warriors)
11 Ben Loader (London Irish)
10 Tom Hardwick (Leicester Tigers)
9 Ben White (C) (Leicester Tigers)
1 Ciaran Knight (Gloucester Rugby)
2 Beck Cutting (Worcester Warriors)
3 Ehren Painter (Northampton Saints)
4 Joel Kpoku (Saracens)
5 James Scott (Worcester Warriors)
6 Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors)
7 Aaron Hinkley (Gloucester Rugby)
8 Tom Willis (Wasps)

Replacements
16 Gabriel Oghre (Wasps)
17 Alex Seville (Gloucester Rugby)
18 Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
19 Josh Basham (London Irish)
20 Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
21 Rory Brand (London Irish)
22 Matt Williams (London Irish)
23 Tom Parton (London Irish)

England Under 20s fixtures

England 39-18 Argentina
England 43-5 Italy

England vs Scotland
Thursday 7 June | Kick-off 8pm BST | Highlights on ITV 4 (midnight)
Stade de la Méditerranée, Beziers

Semi-finals and ranking play-offs
12 June, Narbonne and Perpignan

Finals day
17 June, Beziers

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