England U20 captain Callum Braley

DEFENDING champions England Under 20 have named their side to take on Italy in their opening game of the IRB Junior World Championship at the ECO Light Stadium in Auckland on Monday, kick off 06:35 (BST) live on Sky Sports.

England last faced their Italian rivals in their final game of the U20 Six Nations, winning 52-5, but Head Coach Nick Walshe says that 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. “

Captain Callum Braley added: “We’ve enjoyed our first week in Auckland but now it’s time to get down to business. We’re excited about the next five games – there’s pressure on us, but we have to use that to our advantage and perform as well as we can.”

England Under 20 starting XV against 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 Rugby, captain)

1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Northampton Saints)
2 Tom Woolstencroft (Bath Rugby)
3 Paul Hill (Leeds Carnegie)
4 Maro Itoje (Saracens)
5 Tom Ellis (Bath Rugby)
6 Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby)
7 Gus Jones (London Wasps)
8 James Chisholm (Harlequins)

Replacements:

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