ENGLAND U20 V FRANCE U20

When: Friday 10 March, 20:00
Where: The Rec
Competition: R4 U20 Six Nations
Coverage: BBC iPlayer

TICKETS REMAIN ON SALE!

After two weeks of no international rugby, it returns this Friday and it is at The Rec!

England Under-20s will play their first ever game at The Rec under the lights, looking to extend their winning run against France Under-20s.

Alan Dickens’ side sit top of the table and are on course for the fifth Grand Slam in their history.

In an epic first round encounter with Scotland, Bath Rugby’s very own Sam Harris kicked four conversion and a penalty from full-back in a 41-36 win and he followed it up with a superb try in a victory over Italy in Round 2.

England then headed to Colwyn Bay and saw off a tough Wales side 37-21 to set up an exhilarating outing against France.

The French narrowly edged out Italy by a point in Round 1 and were unfortunate to be on the losing side in Ireland a week later.

They bounced back against the Scots, hitting them for 50 at home and will be hoping to spoil the English party in Bath.

France have been the runners-up in the last three U20 Six Nations, last winning the competition in 2018, while England were victorious two years ago with Orlando Bailey, Ewan Richards, Tom Carr-Smith, John Stewart and Nahum Merigan all featuring in the campaign.

England players to watch: Lewis Chessum (Leicester Tigers second row), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs back row), Josh Hathaway (Gloucester wing), Sam Harris (Bath Rugby fly-half/full-back, Rekeiti Ma'asi-White (Sale Sharks centre)

France players to watch: Nicolas Depoortere (Bordeaux Begles centre, Mathis Ferte (Brive full-back), Marko Gazzotti (Grenoble back row), Brent Liufau (Section Paloise second row/back row), Lenni Nouchi (Montpellier second row/back row)

Teams

England U20: 15 Sam Harris (Bath Rugby), 14 Tobias Elliott (Saracens), 13 Joe Jenkins (Bristol Bears), 12 Rekeiti Ma'asi-White (Sale Sharks), 11 Josh Hathaway (Gloucester), 10 Monty Bradbury (London Irish), 9 Charlie Bracken (Saracens); 1 Archie McArthur (Gloucester), 2 Finn Theobald-Thomas (Gloucester), 3 Tim Hoyt (Leicester Tigers), 4 Rob Carmichael (Leicester Tigers), 5 Lewis Chessum (Leicester Tigers), 6 Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers), 7 Tristan Woodman (Sale Sharks), 8Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)

Replacements: 16 Calum Scott (London Irish), 17 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), 18 Afolabi Fasogbon (London Irish), 19 Harry Browne (Harlequins), 20 Joshua Manz (Leicester Tigers), 21 Nye Thomas (Sale Sharks), 22 Benjamin Waghorn (Harlequins), 23 Cassius Cleaves (Harlequins)

France U20: 15 Mathis Ferte (Brive), 14 Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux Begles), 13 Nicolas Depoortere (Bordeaux Begles), 12 Emilien Gailleton (Section Paloise), 11 Leo Drouet (Provence Rugby), 10 Hugo Reus (Stade Rochelais), 9 Baptiste Jauneau (Clermont Auvergne); 1 Louis Penverne (Stade Rochelais), 2 Pierre Jouvin (Agen), 3 Zaccharie Affane (Bordeaux Begles), 4 Lenni Nouchi (Montpellier), 5 Posolo Tuilagi (Perpignan), 6 Oscar Jegou (Stade Rochelais), 7 Esteban Capilla (Bayonne), 8 Marko Gazzotti (Grenoble)

Replacements: 16 Thomas Lacombre (Toulouse), 17 Luca Tabarot (Montpellier), 18 Lino Julien (Racing 92), 19 Cyriac Guilly (Clermont Auvergne), 20 Brent Liufau (Section Paloise), 21 Mathis Castro Ferreira (Toulouse), 22 Leo Carbonneau (Brive), 23 Paul Costes (Toulouse)

What do you think of when you think of France?

HARRIS RELISHING U20 OUTING AT THE REC

Sam Harris is a piano-playing, light-hearted character with a sense of adventure. He is also pretty good at rugby.

Growing up idolising the never-say-die attitude and commitment of Tennis’ Rafael Nadal and the talent of All Black Beauden Barrett, Harris always had it in his mind he would like to succeed in sport.

His driven nature saw him earn a contract with Bath Rugby at the end of his Under-18s campaign and helped him deservedly represent his country at Under-20 level in 2022 despite having not long turned 18-years-old.

Since then, the young, versatile back has debuted for the Blue, Black and White at senior level, scoring in the Premiership Rugby Cup at Exeter Chiefs, and is now a consistent figure in England Under-20s’ U20 Six Nations backline.

READ THE FULL FEATURE WITH SAM

WATCH INTERNATIONAL RUGBY AT THE REC!

Tickets for England Under-20s v France Under-20s remain on sale for just £15 an adult, £10 a student and £5 for a junior.

Enjoy watching the future of English Rugby against back-to-back World Rugby U20 Championship winners France!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR ENGLAND U20 V FRANCE U20

What's on: The Reccy of the fixture

Here's what you'll find at The Rec as England U20 take on France U20.

We have a jam-packed evening in store for you, complete with a music, a silent disco, some tantalising rugby and half-time entertainment!

READ THE RECCY

The big international at The Rec: England U20 v France U20

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