March 22, 2008

England Under 16 have made 11 changes and one positional alteration in the team to face Italy in the Four Nations Tournament in France tomorrow (Sunday March 23).

England, who lost their opening match 13-12 to Wales on Thursday, have made the shake-up partly to cater for the tournament rules which state that every one of the 26-man squad must start at least one match and play at least a half.

Owen Farrell, the captain, keeps his starting place at inside centre, as do the Sussex duo of James Tyas and Sam Twomey in the second row.

First-time starter Sam Stanley, a nephew of New Zealand All Black centre ‘Smoking’ Joe, is alongside Farrell in the midfield.

Alex Lewington, one of England’s two try scorers against the Welsh in Bourgoin, is switched from right wing to full back to face the Italians in Vienne. The tournament is centred on the city of Lyon, where England are staying and where they will meet France in their final match on Wednesday.

A session of video analysis after the Wales match emphasised good and bad aspects from the tournament opener which was England’s first defeat at this level since 2003.

“The boys were bitterly disappointed to lose to Wales by a point,” said George Squires, England U16 team manager. “They beat themselves up a bit, but now they are focussed on Italy and hopefully there will be an improvement.

“We had enough opportunities to have put Wales away by half-time and the team have recognised by watching it through again that you have to take your chances.

“Tony Ashton, our video analyst, put together a montage from the game and there were a lot of good things there.

“But Wales had two chances and took one, whereas we had five – including four glaring ones – and took two.”

Italy were defeated 54-0 by France in their first match in Bourgoin. Each of these nations are fielding a team of players under 17 on 1 January 2008, whereas England’s are under 16 on 1 September 2007, which adds up to an average eight-month age gap.

“Italy are big and beefy but I think they are not quite as streetwise or nimble as Wales,” said Squires.

“This is a good England team and we are all looking forward to seeing how well they can bounce back.”

England Under 16 team v Italy U17, Four Nations Tournament, Vienne, Sunday March 23, 3pm local time:

15 Alex Lewington (Nottingham High School & Notts, Lincs and Derbyshire)

14 James Whybrow (King Edward VI Five Ways School & North Midlands)

13 Sam Stanley (William Edwards School & Essex)

12 Owen Farrell (St George’s School Harpenden & Hertfordshire, capt)

11 Jamie Elliott (Bedford School & East Midlands)

10 Tom Heathcote (Bishop Wordsworth’s School & Dorset and Wiltshire)

9 Andy Davies (Lymm High School & Cheshire)

1 Kit McCartney (Wanstead School & Essex)

2 George Bee (Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat School & North Midlands)

3 Henry Thomas (Millfield School & Somerset)

4 James Tyas (Brighton College & Sussex)

5 Sam Twomey (St Wilfrid’s RC School & Sussex)

6 Joe Atkinson (Churcher’s College & Hampshire)

7 Ben Vernon (Hutton Grammar School & Lancashire)

8 Matthew Kvesic (Blundell’s School & Devon)

Backs replacements:

Joe Cobden (King Edward VI Lichfield & Staffordshire)

Sam Stuart (Sedbergh School & Yorkshire)

Sam Edgerley (Wellington College & Surrey)

George Ford (Rishworth School & Yorkshire)

Ryan Glynn (Sedbergh School & Lancashire)

Forwards replacements:

Malcolm Hearn (Helston Community College & Cornwall) (front row)

Michael Haywood (Tendring Tech College & Eastern Counties) (front row)

Harry Allen (Hurstmere School & Kent) (front row)

Jamie Bache (St Peter’s High School & Essex)

Sam Jones (Aylesbury Grammar School & Buckinghamshire)

Not considered due to injury: Chris Walker (Settle College & Yorkshire).

Note: up to seven of the 10 replacements may be used.

Four Nations Tournament 2008 fixtures/results:

Thursday March 20:

England U16 12 Wales U16 13 (Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin)

France U17 54 Italy U17 0 (Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin)

Sunday March 23:

England U16 v Italy U17 (Stade Jean Etcheberry, Vienne, 3pm)

France U17 v Wales U16 (Stade Jean Etcheberry, Vienne, 4.30pm)

Wednesday March 26:

Wales U16 v Italy U17 (Stade Vuillermet, Lyon, 5pm)

France U17 v England U16 (Stade Vuillermet, Lyon, 6.30pm)

Ends