- England make six changes to team that beat Scotland
- Under 20 side still in the hunt for RBS 6 Nations title
Unknown scrum half Charlie Davies is set to win his first cap at any level for England after being named in the matchday squad to face France on Sunday.
A year ago, Davies, from Sheffield, broke into the Nottingham first team after a junior rugby career with the Chesterfield and Paviors clubs and for the Midlands Under 20 side before the surprise switch to Stade Francais.
Within five months of his move to Paris, the 20-year-old was lining up against Jonny Wilkinson’s Toulon in the Top 14 and he gets a chance to stake a claim for a place at this summer’s IRB Junior World Championship when title-chasing England face France in Saint Nazaire.
Davies takes over from Gloucester’s Jordi Pasqualin on the bench as England make three changes to the starting line-up following their 27-6 win over Scotland.
London Irish’s Tom Homer – the leading points scorer at the 2009 Junior World Championship – returns at full back. Shaun Knight (Gloucester Rugby) comes into the front row with Joe Marler (Harlequins) switching to loose head and Will Welch (Newcastle Falcons) steps into the back row with Jamie Gibson (London Irish) moving to Number eight.
But the most unlikely change of all is the appearance on the bench of Davies, who forced Stade chief executive Mathias Poursine to take ‘the biggest gamble of my career’ by signing him last summer.
Davies met Poursine by chance on a skiing holiday in Alpe d’Huez in 2007, told him he wanted to be a professional player and bombarded him with videos of his games for Nottingham and the Midlands.
Davies explained: “He gave me his card, told me to keep in touch and I did, asking questions about what could happen and whether I could come over and join their academy.
“Around Christmas 2008 I went over for three days of training and kept hammering on the door. Eventually they said they’d take a chance on me and Mathias said ‘this is the biggest gamble of my career’.”
Davies was number four in the scrum half pecking order behind the likes of Julien Dupuy, Noel Oelschig and Benjamin Tardy, and originally earmarked for a season for Les Espoirs, the Stade Under 23 team.
Instead, injuries and suspensions got him onto the bench, and he made his debut in the Top 14 against Racing Metro in November.
A week later he started against Toulon, open-mouthed to be warming up opposite Wilkinson before a game Stade lost 22-18.
“They were showing the video of the game in reception afterwards and a friend of my parents asked me if I was just gawping during the warm-up. It looked like I was catching flies!
“You’ve got to take the chance when it comes. I get more excited about it all than nervous and I’m enjoying every minute. It’s a brilliant experience for someone my age to be playing and living in France.”
An ankle injury has restricted Davies to a handful of Top 14 appearances – his other starts came against Montauban and Brive. The problem also denied him the chance to appear in the Heineken Cup, but his potential was underlined by England’s James Haskell this week.
“Charlie came in and played a couple of really good games and was unfortunate to get injured just before the Heineken Cup,” said Haskell.
“He’s very committed, he’s got a big future ahead of him and he’s been working very hard. He’s big and strong for a scrum half and signing for Stade is a brilliant opportunity for him.”
England’s Under 20s can still claim the U20 RBS 6 Nations title but will need events tonight in Athlone to go their way. Ireland have a superior points difference and a big win over Scotland may leave Jacob Rowan’s England side with too much to do this weekend.
England Under 20 squad to face France
15 Tom Homer (London Irish)
14 Marcus Watson (London Irish)
13 Andrew Forsyth (Leicester Tigers)
12 Tom Casson (Harlequins)
11 Sam Smith (Harlequins)
10 Rory Clegg (Harlequins)
9 Sam Harrison (Leicester Tigers)
1 Joe Marler (Harlequins)
2 Jamie George (Saracens)
3 Shaun Knight (Gloucester Rugby)
4 Calum Green (Leicester Tigers)
5 Charlie Matthews (Harlequins)
6 Will Welch (Newcastle Falcons)
7 Jacob Rowan (Leeds Carnegie, captain)
8 Jamie Gibson (London Irish)
Replacements
16 Arthur Ellis (London Wasps)
17 Lee Imiolek (Sale Sharks)
18 Danny Wright (Gloucester Rugby)
19 Jackson Wray (Saracens)
20 Charlie Davies (Stade Francais)
21 Mark Atkinson (Sale Sharks)
22 Tom Catterick (Newcastle Falcons)