More recently, fly half Danny Cipriani had two seasons of England representation at U16 level but the first one was with the ‘A’ team.

James Tyas, of Brighton College, Harlequins Academy and Sussex, is the only other player to start three matches for England in the current tournament, the rules of which state that every member of the 26-man squad must start at least one match and play at least a half.

After being edged out by Wales U16 in their opening match, England defeated Italy U17 on Easter Sunday and now face a tough task against France’s U17 side, stung by their own one-point defeat to the Welsh.

“The French will be looking for a big finish against us,” said George Squires, the England U16 team manager.

“We have watched the recording of their defeat by Wales and we reckon the two Welsh tries came from forward passes while the French might have had two tries which were chalked off.

“The French have got a very quick back row who look to move things wide and we think our selection in the back five of the pack will give us a little more range.”

Flanker Jamie Bache comes into the second row alongside Tyas, with pacy openside flanker Ben Vernon retaining his starting spot after an impressive display against the Italians.

George Ford, who turned 15 only 10 days ago, will make his second start at fly half, watched by his father Mike – the England defence coach – who arrived in Lyon on Monday.

The players had a tour of Lyon on Tuesday afternoon, starting at the historic Notre-Dame de Fourvière Basilica overlooking the city, before the serious business concludes on Wednesday evening.

England Under 16 team v France, Four Nations Tournament, Lyon, Wednesday March 26, 6.30pm local time:

15 Joe Cobden (King Edward VI Lichfield & Staffordshire)

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

13 Sam Stuart (Sedbergh School & Yorkshire)

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

11 Sam Edgerley (Wellington College & Surrey)

10 George Ford (Rishworth School & Yorkshire)

9 Ryan Glynn (Sedbergh School & Lancashire)

1 Malcolm Hearn (Helston Community College & Cornwall)

2 Michael Haywood (Tendring Tech College & Eastern Counties)

3 Harry Allen (Hurstmere School & Kent)

4 James Tyas (Brighton College & Sussex)

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

6 Joe Atkinson (Churcher’s College & Hampshire)

7 Ben Vernon (Hutton Grammar School & Lancashire)

8 Sam Jones (Aylesbury Grammar School & Buckinghamshire)

Forwards replacements:

16 Kit McCartney (Wanstead School & Essex) (front row)

17 George Bee (Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat School & North Midlands) (front row)

18 Henry Thomas (Millfield School & Somerset) (front row)

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

20 Chris Walker (Settle College & Yorkshire) will not be considered due to injury

21 Matthew Kvesic (Blundell’s School & Devon)

Backs replacements:

22 Andy Davies (Lymm High School & Cheshire)

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

24 Sam Stanley (William Edwards School & Essex)

25 Jamie Elliott (Bedford School & East Midlands)

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

Note: up to seven of the 11 replacements may be used.

Four Nations Tournament 2008 fixtures/results:

Thursday March 20:

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

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

Sunday March 23:

England U16 v Italy U17 12-3 (Stade Jean Etcheberry, Vienne)

France U17 v Wales U16 16-17 (Stade Jean Etcheberry, Vienne)

Wednesday March 26:

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

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

Ends