Conlon to start for England U-20s

Exeter Chiefs Joel Conlon has been named in England Under-20s side to face Australia in their second IRB Junior World Championship match.

The back-row's promotion from the bench to the strating line up is one of six changes England have made for the match at the QBE Stadium in Auckland on Friday.

Howard Packman, Henry Purdy, Billy Burns, Henry Taylor and Charlie Ewels also come into the side having missed out on starting place in the 63-3 win over Italy in the opening match.

Australia beat Argentina 36-17 in their opening Pool game and England captain Maro Itoje says that his side will be looking to put in a strong performance against their southern hemisphere rivals.

He said: “We were pleased with how we played against Italy but the overriding feeling was that we still had more to come. We have trained well this week with the ultimate aim of performing well in this game.

“Australia will be a huge threat, they have players who have some Super Rugby experience, but we have players who have played at the top level too. We have prepared well and it’ll be a real honour to lead this England side out on Friday.”

England Under-20s team to play Australia

15 Howard Packman (Northampton Saints)
14 Henry Purdy (Leicester Rugby)
13 Nick Tompkins (Saracens)
12 Harry Sloan (Harlequins)
11 Nathan Earle (Saracens)
10 Billy Burns (Gloucester Rugby)
9 Henry Taylor (Loughborough University)
1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Northampton Saints)
2 Tom Woolstencroft (Bath Rugby)
3 Paul Hill (Leeds Carnegie)
4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, captain)
5 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
6 Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby)
7 Gus Jones (London Wasps)
8 Joel Conlon (Exeter Chiefs)

Replacements:

16 Jack Walker (Leeds Carnegie)
17 Alex Lundberg (London Wasps)
18 Harry Rudkin (Leicester Tigers)
19 Hayden Thompson-Stringer (Saracens)
20 James Chisholm (Harlequins)
21 Callum Braley (Bristol Rugby)
22 Sam Olver (Northampton Saints)
23 Aaron Morris (Bedford Blues)