Four members of the Three Pears Warriors Academy have been named in the North squad who will play the South in the latest of a series of matches at an England Under-20s training camp at St George’s Park near Burton on Saturday.
Centres Harry Spencer and Seb Atkinson will start for the North with tighthead prop Mitch Reeve and flanker Jack Forsythe among the replacements.
This will be the fourth and final England Under-20s camp at St George’s Park – the Football Association’s National Centre – since the players resumed training following the lockdown caused by COVID-19.
Due to lack of game time so far this season for Academy players due to the COVID-19 pandemic the England Under-20s coaching staff decided to stage a series of North v South matches in order to give them the opportunity to be seen before the Under-20s Six Nations begins in early January.
The matches have given the England coaches the chance to see as many players as possible from the 13 Academies in a competitive fixture.
Two more members of the Three Pears Warriors Academy, loosehead prop Ben Murphy and fly-half Fin Smith, have already been seen in matches at St George’s Park.