Saints quartet called up by Dickens for England Under-20s matches

Ethan Grayson, George Hendy, Tom Litchfield and Tom Lockett have all been called up by head coach Alan Dickens.

Centres Grayson and Litchfield will be hoping to add to their five caps at U20-level this summer, joining Saints team-mates Hendy and Lockett for the Series in Treviso and Verona between June 24 and July 12.

The Under-20 Summer Series – which includes the Six Nations unions plus Georgia and South Africa – will provide a regional alternative to the postponed World Rugby U20 Championship that will return in 2023.

And former Saints coach Dickens said: “We’ve had a productive time in camp in Newcastle over the past week, and two successful training games against Scotland that have provided great match play opportunities as we prepare for the summer series.

“We’ve got a great mix of players in the squad. Some with experience of playing at Under-20 level already and some players who are new to the squad.

"I’m really pleased with the way they are all supporting and learning from one another.

“We have challenging opposition in our pool games against South Africa, France and Ireland.

"We’ve prepared well and the squad looks forward to the challenges an international series such as this provides.”

England Under-20 squad for Six Nations Under-20 Summer Series: Charlie Bracken (Saracens, caps 0), Lucas Brooke (London Irish, caps 4), Tom Carr-Smith (Bath Rugby, caps 3), Lewis Chessum (Leicester Tigers, caps 3), Chandler Cunningham-South (London Irish, caps 3), Greg Fisilau (Wasps, caps 2), Ollie Fletcher (Newcastle Falcons, caps 1), Ethan Grayson (Saints, caps 5), Alex Harmes (London Irish, caps 0), Sam Harris (Bath Rugby, caps 0), George Hendy (Saints, caps 3), Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers, caps 6), Louie Johnson (Newcastle Falcons, caps 5), Toby Knight (Saracens, caps 5) , Tom Litchfield (Saints, caps 5), Tom Lockett (Saints, caps 4), Rekeiti Ma’asi-White (Wasps, caps 1), Archie McArthur (Wasps, caps 2), Tumy Onasanya (Sale Sharks, caps 0), Conor Oresanya (Harlequins, caps 0), Charlie Rice (Bristol Bears, caps 3), Ewan Richards (Bath Rugby, caps 7), Ethan Staddon (Bath Rugby, caps 0), Finn Theobald-Thomas (Worcester, caps 2), Andrew Turner (Bristol Bears, caps 0), Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors, caps 5), Iwan Stephens (Newcastle Falcons, caps 1), John Stewart (Bath Rugby, caps 5), Mikey Summerfield (London Irish, caps 5), Jed Walsh (Leicester Tigers, caps 0), Jevaughn Warren (Saracens, caps 0), Tobi Wilson (Worcester Warriors, caps 0).

Pool A: France, Ireland, England, South Africa

Pool B: Scotland, Wales, Italy, Georgia

England’s Pool A games

Round 1 – England v South Africa, Friday, June 24, KO 4pm (BST), Payanini Centre, Verona

Round 2 – France v England, Wednesday, June 29, KO 4pm (BST), Payanini Centre, Verona

Round 3 – Ireland v England, Tuesday, July 5, KO 7pm (BST), Payanini Centre, Verona

Play-offs

Tuesday 12 July, KO TBC, Stadio Monigo, Treviso

Every game of the Under 20 Summer Series will be streamed via the Six Nations Rugby U20 YouTube channel.