Conlon in U-20s squad to face Italy

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs forward Joel Conlon has been named on the bench as England Under-20s kick-off the defence of their IRB Junior World Championship crown against Italy tomorrow.

Conlon, who was one of five Chiefs who helped England to lift the crown last season for the first time, forms part of the 23-man squad for the game which takes place at the ECO Light Stadium in Auckland (06:35 BST, live on Sky Sports).

England last faced their Italian rivals in their final game of the Under-20s Six Nations, winning 52-5, but head coach Nick Walshe says that result will have no bearing on this game.

He said: "We're looking forward to kicking off this campaign, we've been in New Zealand for over a week now - the lads are acclimatised and have trained well. They've taken real ownership and can't wait to get out there.

"We did well against Italy in the Six Nations but that game has gone, we're focused on performing well in this game and kick-starting our JWC."

England Under-20s squad to face Italy

15 Aaron Morris (Bedford Blues)
14 George Catchpole (Leicester Tigers)
13 Nick Tompkins (Saracens)
12 Harry Sloan (Harlequins)
11 Nathan Earle (Saracens)
10 Sam Olver (Northampton Saints)
9 Callum Braley (Bristol, capt)
1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Northampton Saints)
2 Tom Woolstencroft (Bath)
3 Paul Hill (Leeds Carnegie)
4 Maro Itoje (Saracens)
5 Tom Ellis (Bath)
6 Ross Moriarty (Gloucester)
7 Gus Jones (London Wasps)
8 James Chisholm (Harlequins)

16 Jack Walker (Leeds Carnegie)
17 Alex Lundberg (London Wasps)
18 Biyi Alo (Saracens)
19 Charlie Ewels (Bath)
20 Joel Conlon (Exeter Chiefs)
21 Henry Taylor (Loughborough University)
22 Billy Burns (Gloucester)
23 Henry Purdy (Leicester Tigers)