The future of England rugby certainly looks exciting, as Mark Mapletoft’s side won the U20 World Championship’s this past Friday night in Cape Town. The land of the Springboks played hosts to a tremendous tournament finale, as England triumphed over a valiant French side 21-13, to take home the trophy from the DHL Stadium.
With an abundance of exhilarating young talents coming through the ranks, the future is now for England, as the class of 2024 could well be on their way to senior call-ups before too long. England’s victorious campaign in South Africa was the nation’s first U20 World Championship since 2016, and that crop of age grade stars included the likes of senior capped England players Joe Marchant and Max Malins.
Mapletoft’s side have had an incredible 2024, as England also claimed the 2024 U20 Six Nations title earlier this year, which was the team’s first since the Grand Slam of 2021. This past Friday’s win over France marked the end of an era of French dominance of the U20 World Championships, as Les Blues had won the annual tournament for the previous three years. In what is an emphatic statement towards the future of England rugby, here is a closer look at five future talents from the world championship winning squad.
1. Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers)
The captain who led England to their triumphant campaign, Finn Carnduff has been an ever-present source of inspiration to his England U20 ‘brothers in arms’. Carnduff went viral across social media ahead of the final, as his impassioned team talk showcased just how much the competition means to this group of young men. It’s evident that Carnduff’s leadership is unparalleled within the England U20s, with it shown that when the skipper speaks, the squad stops to listen.
The versatile forward is a stunning technical talent, with an astute awareness on how to capitalise upon the set-piece. A real threat in the air, Carnduff rules the line-out as his own fly zone, with a telepathic connection between the throwing hooker. Carnduff also excels around the breakdown, and digs in for the hard yards whilst the likes of Junior Kpoku take the turnover spotlight. Selfless, courageous and fearless, Carnduff is a testament to the Leicester Tigers system, chiseled in the grit of the Welford Road school of hard knocks.
Comfortable across both the second and back rows, Carnduff began his England U20s journey in the locks but has since progressed on to a mainstay upon the blindside flank. Carnduff has improved insurmountably since making his debut for Leicester in the 2022 Premiership Rugby Cup against London Irish, and made five Premiership appearances this season, including an 80 minute run out in an East Midlands derby.
2. Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)
The loose cannon of the England U20 back row, Henry Pollock is the fiery ‘Yin’ of the open-side flank that couples with the ice-cool confidence of Carnduff’s ‘Yang’. The personification of a firecracker, Pollock’s sparks begin to fly before he crosses the pitch, as the Northampton man psychs himself up to the point of combustion. Whilst Pollock’s hard-hitting defence has impressed all onlookers, the Saints man has also made a name for himself on the front foot.
Pollock is no stranger to a stunning breakaway, and runs with the ball with the confidence of a playmaking centre that relishes the offensive challenge. Equally adaptable to step around an opponent or power over the top of them, Pollock’s influence as a ball carrier is what is setting him apart from the rest of the similarly aged talents across the Premiership. Pollock began his U20s England career with a hat-trick, as he crossed over for a trio of tries in the 2024 U20 Six Nations opener against Italy.
More recently, Pollock contributed two tries to England’s U20 World Championship winning effort, as he dotted the ball down in the first and second pool stage matches against Argentina and Fiji. For his club, Pollock made his Northampton senior debut in the 2022 Premiership Rugby Cup and mirrored his England captain with a maiden run-out against London Irish. Pollock would also make his Premiership debut in an East Midland’s derby, yet took to the turf at Welford Road, whilst Carnduff’s first rivalry match was at Franklin’s Gardens.