Maunder to lead England U18s

Exeter Chiefs youngster Jack Maunder will skipper England Under-18s as they begin the defence of their Under-18 European Championship crown against Portugal in Montauban tomorrow.

Scrum-half Maunder is joined by club-mates Ollie Dawe and Josh Caulfield in being selected in the starting XV by head coach John Fletcher.

England put 10 tries past their Portuguese opponents, beating them 62-5, in their opening match of last year’s tournament in Poland.

Fletcher said: “We have played Portugal a number of times in recent seasons.  We know what to expect and they will be up for the challenge. It is important we start the tournament well, put down a marker and produce a good performance that we can build on as a team over the next week or so.”

The team go into the tournament having won two of their three games this season, with victories over France (21-5) and Scotland (39-27), before a narrow defeat to Wales (23-15) earlier this month.

England have won the European title the previous three seasons.

 

England squad to face Portugal (KO 4pm GMT)

15. Johnny McPhillips (Newcastle Falcons, Sedbergh School)

14. Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins, Trinity)

13. Max Wright (Yorkshire Carnegie, Prince Henry's)

12. Max Malins (Saracens, Felsted)

11. Sam Aspland-Robinson (Harlequins, Wellington College)

10. Mark Dixon (Sale Sharks, Lymm HS)

9. Jack Maunder (Exeter Chiefs, Blundells School, capt) 

1. Ollie Dawe (Exeter Chiefs, Bicton College) 

2. Curtis Langdon (London Irish, St Pauls Sunbury)

3. Charles Capps (Yorkshire Carnegie, Prince Henry's)

4. Tim Cardall (Northampton Saints, Moulton College)

5. Josh Caulfield (Exeter Chiefs, Bicton College) 

6. Joe Craggs (Newcastle Falcons, Gosforth Academy)

7. Will Evans (Leicester Tigers, Wyggeston & QEI College)

8. Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby, Merchiston Castle School)

 

Replacements

16. Dan Frost (Bath Rugby, Filton College)

17. Jake Pope (Sale Sharks, Myerscough College)

18. Jack Edmonson (Bath Rugby, Sherborne)

19. Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, Haileybury College)

20. Archie White (Harlequins, Epsom College)

21. Will Allman (Northampton Saints, Trent College)

22. Alex Mitchell  (Sale Sharks, Lymm HS)

23. Theo Brophy Clews (London Irish, Abingdon School)

Tournament schedule:

Friday 27th March

England U18 v Portugal U18 kick off 4pm (UK time), Montauban

Tuesday 31st March

England U18 v TBC, kick off 6pm (UK time), Blagnac

Saturday 4^th April

England U18 v TBC, kick off TBC, Toulouse