Warriors’ loosehead prop Lewis Holsey returns to the England Under-20s squad for their penultimate match in the delayed Six Nations against hosts Wales at Cardiff Arms Park on Wednesday (kick-off 8.00pm).
Holsey started in England’s tournament opener against France but then suffered a hamstring injury and was ruled out of the victories over Scotland and Ireland.
Having regained fitness Holsey returns to the matchday squad against Wales as one of the 11 replacements permitted for the tournament.
Holsey’s Three Pears Warriors Academy team-mate Fin Smith will again start for England having been one of the key players in the tournament so far.
England Head Coach has made three changes to the starting XV with Orlando Bailey returning at full back, Tom Roebuck making his first start of this Six Nations on the wing and loosehead prop Fin Baxter called up for his debut.
“Last week we had a hugely physical match and so we’ve made sure we’ve recovered well since then,” Dickens said.
“I was really pleased with the character and effort from the team and seeing another improvement in our performance. I’m looking for the players to build on that again heading into this game.
“We know Wales v England is always a special match in the Six Nations and we are expecting another strong challenge on Wednesday from a team on home turf.
“I’ve made a few more changes to our starting line up which is reflective of the competition for places among the squad.
“Tom Roebuck made a very positive impact from the bench against Ireland so I want to see what he can do starting the game. I’ve also been impressed with Fin Baxter who has been training with us this past week and it will be great to see him win his first U20’s cap on Wednesday night.
“The hard work and the effort the players have put in so far through this Six Nations competition and during the season as a whole has been outstanding. We will continue to push that in this game and can’t wait to get back out on pitch again.”
England Under-20s
15 Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby)
14 Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
13 Jack Bates (Bristol Bears)
12 Dan Lancaster (Leeds Tykes)
11 Arthur Relton (Exeter Chiefs)
10 Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors)
9 Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers) Captain
1 Fin Baxter (Harlequins)
2 Sam Riley (Harlequins)
3 Harvey Kindell-Beaton (Saracens)
4 Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby)
5 Alex Groves (Bristol Bears)
6 Ewan Richards (Bath Rugby)
7 Jack Clement (Gloucester Rugby)
8 Nahum Merigan (Bath Rugby)
Replacements
16 Archie Vanes (Leicester Tigers)
17 Lewis Holsey (Worcester Warriors)
18 Luke Green (London Irish)
19 Freddie Thomas (Gloucester Rugby)
20 Josh Gray (Gloucester Rugby)
21 Ollie Stonham (Saracens)
22 Tom Carr-Smith (Bath Rugby)
23 Tommy Mathews (Hartpury University RFC)
24 Phil Cokanasiga (London Irish)
25 Deago Bailey (Bristol Bears)
26 Charlie Atkinson (Wasps)