England U18 Men have confirmed the matchday 26 to face Georgia, on matchday two of the U18 Men’s International Series in South Africa. The side face Georgia on Friday (12:30 KO) before taking on South Africa on Tuesday. This fixture comes in the revised schedule following France’s withdrawal from the series. England v Georgia kicks-off at Paarl Gimnasium, and will be streamed live on SuperSport Schools.
Tour captain Patrick Hogg has been ruled out of the remainder of the series through injury, with Aiden Ainsworth-Cave called up in Hogg’s absence. Ainsworth-Cave has four U18 caps to his name, appearing in all three 2024 U18 Six Nations Festival victories. Connor Treacey assumes the role of team captain for England’s remaining fixtures and starts as openside flanker for his ninth U18 cap.
There are nine changes to the starting XV, with first starts awarded to Cameron Ward, Oscar Thomas, George Newman and Diamond Ayiehfor, as well as Ben Morrow, Finn Keylock, Jack Murphy and Matthew-Branch-Holland. 18 of the matchday 26 to face Georgia earned their first U18 caps on match day one against Ireland.
Noah Caluori’s awesome solo effort was followed by a converted try from Tom Davis, Victor Worsnip and George Newman. However, Ireland proved to be too powerful on the day, and the impressive Irish U18s achieved 42-28 victory in round one.
England U18s head coach Jonathan Pendlebury said: “Moment by moment and game by game, our mantra is about ‘Getting Better and Better’ in this Series. Consistent development is a necessity for our group, and I believe there was a marked improvement through the latter stages of our match against Ireland.
“A fresh challenge awaits us this week against Georgia, a team we battled hard against in the recent Six Nations and whose inclusion is a positive one for each union’s respective developments. Meeting them in a different environment with refreshed squads will be an excellent test, none more so in terms of physicality and the relentless approach we want to employ in our remaining games.
“The coaching staff and squad would like to offer our deepest sympathies and support to our French colleagues and to the family of Medhi Narjissi in such tragic circumstances. Medhi will continue to be in our thoughts in the coming days in a situation that has deeply affected the wider rugby fraternity.”
England U18 Men’s side to face Georgia
15. Ben Morrow (Saracens, Millfield, 1 cap)
14. Noah Caluori (Saracens, Mill Hill School, 1 cap)
13. Fraser Rawlins (Saracens, Haileybury, 3 caps)
12. Cameron Ward (Bath Rugby, Cranleigh School, 1 cap)
11. Julian Nunn (Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff, 1 cap)
10. Finn Keylock (Saracens, Bishop Wand School, 1 cap)
9. George Newman (Exeter Chiefs, Truro College, 1 cap)
1. Tom Dye (Northampton Saints, Ipswich School, 2 caps)
2. Oscar Thomas (Bath Rugby, Wellington College, 1 cap)
3. Diamond Ayiehfor (Leicester Tigers, Warwick School, 1 cap)
4. Jack Murphy (Saracens, Colfes, 1 cap)
5. Jonno Balding (Gloucester Rugby, Radley College, 4 caps)
6. Elliot Williams (Harlequins, Gordon’s School, 4 caps)
7. Connor Treacey (C) (Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff, 8 caps)
8. Matthew Branch-Holland (Saracens, Ravens Wood, 1 cap)
Replacements
16. Tom Davis (Sale Sharks, St Mary’s College, Crosby, 1 cap)
17. Elvis Kitenge-Fuki (Newcastle Falcons, Gosforth Academy, 1 cap)
18. Ben Beere (Leicester Tigers, Stamford School, 1 cap)
19. Aiden Ainsworth-Cave (Northampton Saints, Bedford School, 4 caps)
20. Ollie Hull (Northampton Saints, Stamford School, 1 cap)
21. Jack Marshall (Saracens, The Campion School, 1 cap)
22. Asa Stewart-Harris (Saracens, St Albans, 1 cap)
23. James Linegar (Bath Rugby, Kingswood School, 5 caps)
24. Felix Champain (Harlequins, Worth School, 3 caps)
25. Victor Worsnip (Bristol Bears, Clifton College, 1 cap)
26. Sam Winters (Bath Rugby, Harrow School, 1 cap)