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Telegraph
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
England vs South Africa: Teams and latest updates from World Rugby U20 Championship
England continue their World Under-20 Championship campaign this afternoon as they take on South Africa at Stadio Comunale Mario Battaglini in Rovigo. England, who are the defending champions, got their campaign up and running with a comprehensive 56-19 victory over Scotland in Verona last Sunday, courtesy of eight tries. Speaking ahead of the game, Pathway Scrum and Defence Coach Nathan Catt wants to see the side continue to raise their performance levels. 'South Africa always promises to be very testing yet exciting fixture. We want our boys to commit to the moment throughout and build strongly together,' Catt said. 'A core principle of our campaign is to make lifelong memories through raising our levels of high performance every week, and this match will be no exception.' England will be without the services of forward George Timmins for the rest of the tournament after he was handed a five-match ban due to being sent off early in the second half of the victory over Scotland. South Africa thrashed Australia 73-17 in their opening match of Pool A to get their tournament up and running in style. Their head coach Kevin Foote has spoken about the honour of playing the defending champions. 'There is a huge amount of excitement around Friday and the magnitude of this match,' said Foote. 'We know how important this is, playing against the defending champions. It is an honour to be involved in such a game and a real challenge for us this week. We cannot wait for it. We are very proud of the guys in terms of how focused and humble they are staying after the victory over Australia, and just how hungry they are for the next challenge against England.' These sides have met in the last two editions of the Under-20 World Championships. A year ago England came out on top, winning 17-12 during the group stages, but back in 2023 South Africa ran out 22-15 winners in the final. Kick-off from Rovigo is at 5pm BST.
Telegraph
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
A generation of elite England props is emerging, but Billy Sela is most exciting
Two years, it turns out, has been enough time for England to replenish their propping stocks. And, according to those with intimate knowledge of the tighthead pipeline, the best is yet to come. Vilikesa Sela still answers to 'Billy' on these shores but now uses his 'government name' at the request of his Fijian mother and father. Whatever he becomes widely known by, one suspects that supporters around the country will be familiar with it. Sela secured the No 3 shirt for the beginning of England Under-20's victorious World Championship campaign last year, but a hamstring injury ruled him out of the knockout stages. The Bath youngster made the side playing a year up and, perhaps more remarkably, having switched positions from the back row only a couple of seasons previously. England's title defence got under way last weekend with a 56-19 victory over Scotland in sweltering conditions in Verona. Part of a brawny bench, Sela replaced Tye Raymont during a second half in which George Timmins's red card disrupted the champion. While his team failed to kick on from a 42-12 half-time lead, Sela did spearhead a seven-man scrum that earned a penalty. 'I've actually watched that back just now,' he admits with a broad smile. 'Before we came on to the pitch, Kepu [Tuipulotu], [Ollie] Scola and I were analysing what was happening, just saying that we knew what we needed to do. It went how we envisioned it would go. We got on the front foot and kind of went through them.' England Under-20s' seven-man scrum Towards the end of the game, with flanker Sam Williams coming off, England negotiated a couple of six-on-eight set-pieces comprising Scola, Tuipulotu, Sela, Junior Kpoku, Olamide Sodeke and Aiden Ainsworth-Cave. 'We still nearly got them on one of those,' Sela says. 'Imagine if we had eight!' ... and the six-man version A second pool match against South Africa this Friday is likely to present a far tougher challenge. The Baby Boks thrashed Australia 73-17 on Sunday and will want to avenge 2024, when they were outmuscled by an England outfit including Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Henry Pollock and others. 'We were just doing some recon on them,' says Sela, who started that 17-12 victory before being substituted by Afolabi Fasogbon. 'They are a physical team. All their boys are big, and we've got a big team. We were all just saying how we have to front up. Their physicality is what makes them, them and we'll be gunning to take it away this week.' All set for Friday's clash 💥 England U20 Men's head coach Mark Mapletoft has named his 23-player match day squad for their second pool game of the @WorldRugby U20 Championship 🌹 #WorldRugbyU20s | @Honda_UK — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 2, 2025 Sela's parents moved to Britain when the British Army brought his father to west London. Ilaitia served in the infantry and the Royal Logistics Corps before he became a petroleum operator for the Ministry of Defence. Vilikesa, one of four children in a military family that made its way to Wiltshire, was born in Hounslow and grew up on footage of Fiji's sevens success, with Jerry Tuwai the hero. 'I loved the flow of their offloading,' he smiles. 'Any time I get an opportunity to offload, I'll try to do that – even if it's a one on one. I don't really like bouncing people, I prefer offloading. It just looks nice.' More inspiration came when Ilaitia represented the Army at Twickenham. 'It was one of the best memories I have, because I'd never been to a big stadium before,' Sela recalls. 'We all ended up sleeping there in one of the hotel rooms. It was so amazing – I remember it all so vividly. 'Growing up around rugby was really cool and now, being with the Under-20s, I feel like I'm living out what my dad was doing; being in a hotel room, having food prepped for you and spending time with your team-mates.' The recent domestic season was difficult. He did not feature for Bath until the end of October and suffered a stress fracture in his tibia midway through the Six Nations. Even so, he fitted in debuts in the Premiership and the Investec Champions Cup, testament to Johann van Graan's trust in him as well as the modest Sela's enormous promise. 'I didn't expect it to be as good a season as it has been,' he concedes. 'At the beginning of it, I was chatting to Cam Redpath and he was asking me about my plans. I told him that my main goal was to play in the Premiership Cup. 'Now every time I walk past him, he'll remind me: 'Prem Cup, yeah?' He's been good to me. He always tells me to dream big.' 'The transition to senior scrums was a shock' The charming image of Redpath suggesting that Sela should aim higher reflects a constructive Bath culture. Thomas du Toit and Will Stuart, his club-mates and fellow props, are idols of Sela's. 'I feel like they've mastered their skills and I am only on the way,' Sela continues. 'Every time there's a scrum, I'm watching them. They'll help me out; Thomas will pull me aside and tell me to watch certain things. 'I remember when I first came in for my first pre-season and – oh my days! – the transition from academy scrums to senior scrums, it was a shock. My back would be in bits every week. When Thomas came into the club, he helped me with my technique and has helped me get where I am now.' Sela has three Test tightheads in front of him at Bath, with Archie Griffin currently out in Japan with Wales. Competing for Premiership game-time, while studying for a sports performance degree at Bath University, will serve Sela well. As for England, there are high hopes. Opoku-Fordjour and Fasogbon, touring with Steve Borthwick's side this summer, have 'opened it up and shown that anything is possible'. Sela, a rumbling runner with a cute passing game, was selected alongside those two and Pollock in the wider squad for the A fixture against Australia last November and is one of Nathan Catt's many mentees in the age-grade pathway. Catt, the former Bath loosehead, deserves praise for the abundance of developing English tightheads below Stuart and Joe Heyes in a healthy pecking order. Catt's influence on Sela, in particular, was profound. For sixth form, Sela opted to leave Royal Wootton Bassett Academy to attend Beechen Cliff School, enabling him to immerse himself full-time in the ACE programme combining academic study and rugby training. Sela had already been released from Bath's junior system, which caused some soul-searching, but knuckled down after being called up again at under-17 level. 'I remember telling my mates I would probably come back [to Royal Wootton Bassett Academy],' Sela explains, laughing again. 'But I dropped that to chase my dream, basically.' Now contracted to the RFU, Catt was at that stage coaching at Beechen Cliff and implored a rampaging No 8 to enlist in the front-row union. 'I've stuck with that and he's put in the hours,' Sela says. 'If I had lunch breaks at school, he'd text me to get me down to the scrum machine to practise set-ups. 'I remember once he was making me set up and I was leaning against a wall and putting pressure on it, and it started to crack. We both looked at each other like 'err, what do we do now?'' The same wall might crumble to dust were Sela to lean on it now. He has bulked up to around 124kg and essentially barricaded himself in the gym at Farleigh House while recovering from his stress fracture over a 10-week lay-off. 'Honestly, every week would be PB, PB, PB,' Sela says. 'I got close with those strength and conditioning coaches and physios, and it's helped me. I'm noticing the strength now. It's paying off.' Bath use an exercise called a 'myro thruster', where players push away a weighted base while a bench supports their backs. Sela's best for one leg is 285kg, which is regarded as rather hefty. Sela was in Georgia for a World Championship warm-up match when Bath beat Leicester Tigers to the Premiership title and then at Heathrow Airport for the victory parade. He would love to return to Twickenham one day to emulate his father's appearance there for the Army. Indeed, England's bid for back-to-back titles is being driven, at least in part, by a visit to Fiji. 'The last time we went, in 2016 or something, was the first time I'd met my wider family; family I never knew existed,' Sela says. 'It was such a warm feeling, because in England we don't have other relatives – my parents are the only ones to have left Fiji. I think they feel proud of what I've done in England.'
The South African
01-07-2025
- Sport
- The South African
England star banned ahead of Junior Bok clash at U20 World Champs
England's title defence at the World Rugby U20 Championship faces an early challenge, with suspension news compounding pressure ahead of their toughest pool match yet. After easing past Scotland in their opener, the young Red Roses now prepare for a bruising battle against South Africa – without one of their key forwards. This is after World Rugby handed loose forward George Timmins a five-match ban for foul play. The Bath back-rower was cited for striking Scotland's Ollie Blyth-Lafferty with his elbow during Sunday's U20 Champions Pool A match in Verona. The blow left the Scottish prop needing stitches, and Timmins' suspension effectively rules him out for the rest of the tournament. The ban also affects his availability for Bath's early pre-season clash against Glasgow Warriors in September. Timmins' absence forces England into a back-row reshuffle just days before their biggest test so far. Head coach Mark Mapletoft now faces selection headaches against a resurgent Junior Springbok pack full of confidence and physicality. Despite playing much of the second half a man down, England cruised past Scotland 56–19 with pace and precision out wide. But the Junior Springboks, who ran in 11 tries during their 73–17 demolition of Australia's U20 side, pose a far more serious threat to England's title defence. The Junior Boks dominated the breakdown and punished turnovers ruthlessly, showing a clinical edge England must match. The fixture, set for 6pm on Friday, 4 July in Verona, could decide who tops Pool A and earns a favourable quarter-final draw. England captain Tom Burrow has praised South Africa's firepower and insists his team will have to tighten up to match their intensity. WHICH SIDE – BETWEEN ENGLAND AND THE JUNIOR BOKS – WILL WIN THEIR U20 CLASH? Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Scotsman
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Scotland U20 rue 'needless errors' as England man sees red for elbow
Tough reintroduction to elite tournament after six-year absence Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Scotland Under-20s returned to the elite World Rugby U20 Championship for the first time in six years and it was a tough reintroduction against the champions, England, in the heat of Italy. The young Scots scored first and last but a fatal spell in the second quarter sewed the seeds for their downfall in Verona. They lost 56-19 against opponents who had too much raw power and outscored them by eight tries to three. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Scotland trailed 42-12 at the break but showed more durability in the second half, keeping England out until the 72nd minute. They were helped by their opponents being reduced to 14 men, with flanker George Timmins being sent off for bringing his elbow down into the face of Ollie Blyth-Lafferty as the Scotland prop lay on the floor. England's Tyler Offiah on the attack against Scotland during the World Rugby U20 Championship Pool A match at Payanini Center in Verona. | Luca Sighinolfi / World Rugby It was a nasty-looking incident and worthy of the permanent red card administered by New Zealand referee Marcus Playle. Blyth-Lafferty, who had impressed in the scrum, had to go off for treatment but, happily, he was able to return. 'He got an elbow in the eye effectively, that's what the red card was for, so he's got some stitches just underneath his eye,' said Kenny Murray, the Scotland U20 coach. 'Hopefully we can get him through into the next game. It doesn't look like anything too major to be honest.' Scotland took the lead through a well-worked try from Noah Cowan after an inch-perfect cross-kick by Matthew Urwin found Fergus Watson. They were also awarded a penalty try inside the first 12 minutes but England powered away just before the halfway point of the first half. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Disappointed with that 15 to 40-minute period which was probably where we lost the game,' said Murray. 'We conceded some soft tries. I thought we made some just needless errors, some individual errors, connections in defence let us down a few times and at this level, and against a team like that, when you make those errors you put yourself under pressure. Son of rugby league legend barged into touch 'I was pleased with the way we started, obviously got a few tries early on and we have spoken about starting fast. We didn't build on that in terms of keeping them out and trying to really push for more tries. 'At half time when you're down by that amount of points it's always tough for the players but I thought they showed a lot of resolve in the second half. England were awarded a penalty try when Watson barged Tyler Offiah into touch with a no-arms tackle as the son of England rugby league legend Martin looked set to score in the corner. Then came Scotland's penalty try which edged them 12-7 ahead. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Hector Patterson dives over to score a try for Scotland against England in the World Rugby U20 Championship in Verona. | Luca Sighinolfi / World Rugby After that, it was one-way traffic for the remainder of the first half as Jack Bracken (two), Kane James (two) and Will Knight ran in tries for England, with Ben Coen converting them all. Hocking's long awaited return Scotland were far more robust after the break and produced some impressive defence sets in their own 22. Murray utilised his bench and Jack Hocking was introduced for his first competitive match in 267 days after injury. England eventually broke through with eight minutes left, scoring tries in quick succession through Josh Bellamy and Ben Redshaw, but Scotland had the last word with a fine try from Hector Patterson after a break by Kerr Yule. Paterson collected his own chip to score and Urwin added the conversion. It's Australia up next for Scotland on Friday in Viadana. The junior Wallabies suffered a 73-17 pummelling at the hand of South Africa in their Pool A opener on Sunday. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Teams and scorers Scorers: England U20: Tries: penalty try, Bracken 2, James 2, Knight, Bellamy, Redshaw. Cons: Coen 5, Bellamy 2. Scotland U20: Tries: Cowan, penalty try, Paterson. Con: Urwin. Red card: Timmins (Eng, 53min). Yellow cards: Watson (Sco, 8min), Gulley (Eng, 12min). Scotland U20: 15. Jack Brown (Edinburgh); 14. Nairn Moncrieff (Edinburgh); 13. Johnny Ventisei (Glasgow; capt), 12. Kerr Yule (Glasgow), 11. Fergus Watson (Glasgow); 10. Matthew Urwin (Glasgow), 9. Noah Cowan (Brunel Univ/Ealing Trailfinders); 1. Jake Shearer (Glasgow), 2. Joe Roberts (Glasgow), 3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh). 4. Bart Godsell (Loughborough Univ), 5. Dan Halkon (Glasgow), 6. Charlie Moss (Montpellier), 7. Oliver Duncan (Edinburgh), 8. Reuben Logan (Northampton). Replacements: 16. Seb Stephen (Glasgow), 17. Oliver McKenna (Glasgow), 18. Jamie Stewart (Edinburgh), 19. Dylan Cockburn (Melrose). 20. Mark Fyffe (Univ of Edinburgh), 21. Oliver Finlayson-Russell (Univ of St Andrews), 22. Hector Patterson (Edinburgh), 23. Jack Hocking (Edinburgh). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad England U20: 15. Josh Bellamy (Harlequins); 14. Jack Bracken (Saracens), 13. Nick Lilley (Exeter ), 12. Will Knight (Gloucester), 11. Tyler Offiah (Bath); 10. Ben Coen (Exeter), 9. Jonny Weimann (Northampton); 1. Ralph McEachran (Sale), 2. Louie Gulley (Exeter), 3. Tye Raymont (Sale), 4. Tom Burrow (Sale Sharks; capt), 5. Junior Kpoku (Racing 92), 6. George Timmins (Bath), 7. Samuel Williams (Leicester), 8 Kane James (Exeter). Replacements: 16. Kepu Tuipulotu (Bath), 17. Oli Scola (Northampton), 18. Vilikesa Sela (Bath), 19. Olamide Sodeke (Saracens), 20. Aiden Ainsworth-Cave (Northampton), 21. Archie McParland (Northampton), 22. Campbell Ridl (Exeter), 23. Ben Redshaw (Newcastle).
