YOUNG Worcester Warriors duo Ted Hill and James Scott have been named in the starting line-up as England kick off their World Rugby U20 Championship in France tonight (Wednesday).
England Under-20s head coach Steve Bates has named three Warriors in his ranks for the opener against Argentina this evening in Narbonne (kick-off 5.30pm).
Back row Hill and lock Scott both start while hooker Beck Cutting is named on the bench for the clash at Stade d’Honneur du Parc des Sports et de l’Amitié.
England Under-20s have reached the final in five consecutive years, winning three (2013, 2014, 2016) and since 2008 they have reached eight out of the ten finals, including last year in Georgia.
Following Wednesday’s fixture, England face Italy on Sunday in Perpignan and Scotland next Thursday in Pool B at Beziers’ Stade de la Méditerranée.
Narbonne and Perpignan will host the semi-finals and ranking play-offs on June 12, with Beziers hosting all finals day matches on June 17 across two pitches.
Bates said: “We’ve had a really good period of preparation ahead of this tournament with a hugely beneficial fixture against South Africa and a training session with Wales. It’s really helped to focus the minds of the players and we’ve seen a further improvement in training ahead of our first match of the championship against Argentina.
“I want to see us play with a bit more patience on Wednesday, I don’t want us to lower our intensity, but if we play as we did during the Six Nations then we have the ability to create a lot of opportunities and we need to be patient in how we execute those chances.
“We know the importance of winning every game in this tournament, and we need to go out on Wednesday with a real intent to get this campaign off to a positive start.
“We have an excellent squad of players, every position is competitive and this is an exciting England team that I’m looking forward to seeing perform on the world stage.”