Conlon starts for England U-20s

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs flanker Joel Conlon has been named in the England Under-20s starting line-up for tomorrow's final IRB Junior World Championship Pool game against USA at the Stade Henri Desgrange in La Roche-sur-Yon, live on Sky Sports HD, kick off 5.45pm (GMT).

Nick Walshe's side have made 11 changes from the side that lost 31-24 to South Africa on Sunday with Conlon one of them in the back-row. Exeter club-mates Henry Slade and Jack Nowell have been named on the bench

With a semi-final spot still up for grabs, England need to ensure a bonus point victory to stand any chance of progressing.
Northampton Saints scrum half Alex Day captains the side for the first team, and the No. 9 is relishing the opportunity.

He said: “It’s a massive honour to named captain for this game. It’s something that you dream of when you’re little and to achieve it is pretty exciting – I’m massively proud and I just want to go out there and do a good job. We’re staying in the same hotel as the USA and we know that they’re going to be up for it, but we’ve prepared well and we’re looking forward to the game.”

With seven changes coming in the forward division, Forwards Coach Ian Peel explains why he has freshened it up. He said: “We’ve had two really physical Tests [against France and South Africa] and we just wanted to freshen things up. The guys who we’ve brought in have been coming off the bench and now it’s their turn to start and make an impact from the get-go. We’ve got a really strong squad we want to use everybody – it keeps bodies fresh and we have full confidence in the whole squad.”

England Under 20 starting XV against USA

15 Ollie Devoto (Bath Rugby)
14 Ben Howard (Worcester Warriors)
13 Tom Stephenson (Northampton Saints)
12 Harry Sloan (Harlequins)
11 Henry Purdy (Leicester Tigers)
10 Will Hooley (Northampton Saints)
9 Alex Day (Northampton Saints, capt)
1 Alec Hepburn (London Wasps)
2 Scott Spurling (Saracens)
3 Tom Smallbone (London Irish)
4 Harry Wells (Leicester Tigers)
5 Tom Price (Leicester Tigers)
6 Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby)
7 Joel Conlon (Exeter Chiefs)
8 David Sisi (Bath Rugby)

Replacements:

16 Nathan Morris (London Wasps)
17 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Northampton Saints)
18 Scott Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)
19 Dominic Barrow (Leeds Carnegie)
20 Jack Clifford (Harlequins)
21 Callum Braley (Bristol Rugby)
22 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
23 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)