England U20 name side for JWC final

England U20 have named their side to face New Zealand in the final of the IRB Junior World Championship in Padova, Italy. Kick off 6.10pm (UK time), live on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports HD 2.

Head Coach Rob Hunter has made four changes from the side that beat France 33-18, with Andy Short (Worcester Warriors), Elliot Daly (London Wasps), Sam Jones (London Wasps) and Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks) all coming in.

England are looking to win the JWC for the first time, having been beaten finalists on three previous occasions, in 2007, 2008 and 2009, losing out to the Baby Blacks each time.

Saracens full back Ben Ransom scored a try in the semi-final win against the French and says that the squad are exited about being on the verge of history:

“We’re really looking forward to the game,” he said. “It will be a great occasion and the team is really looking forward to it. We’re hopeful of playing to our full potential, because if we do, we know that we can cause them problems.

Ransom added: “No England team has ever won the competition so we’ve got a chance to create a bit of history which would be a fitting way to end our season.”

London Wasps wing Christian Wade, who is the tournament’s joint top try-scorer with five, is equally hopeful upsetting the Kiwi’s.

“We’re in a good place as a squad," he said. "The support from home has been amazing – we’ve had videos messages from the senior squad and Martin Johnson came out for the South Africa game, so to know that we have their backing means a lot.

Wade added: “We’re a very tight group, we know that New Zealand will put up a fight, and of course we’ll respect them but we’re here to win this competition and we’ll do our best to achieve that. There will be nothing left out on that pitch from us.”

England U20 team v New Zealand:

15) Ben Ransom (Saracens)
14) Andy Short (Worcester Warriors)
13) Elliot Daly (London Wasps)
12) Owen Farrell (Saracens)
11) Christian Wade (London Wasps)
10) George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
9) Chris Cook (Bath Rugby)
1) Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
2) Mikey Haywood (Northampton Saints)
3) Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks)
4) Joe Launchbury (London Wasps)
5) Charlie Matthews (Harlequins)
6) Sam Jones (London Wasps)
7) Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors)
8) Alex Gray (Captain) (Newcastle Falcons)

Replacements:

16) Rob Buchanan (Harlequins)
17) Will Collier (Harlequins)
18) Sam Twomey (Harlequins)
19) Matt Everard (Leicester Tigers)
20) Dan Robson (Gloucester Rugby)
21) Ryan Mills (Gloucester Rugby)
22) Marland Yarde (London Irish)