England, Italy in U/19 international
Friday at Sunbury
England and Italy meet in an Under-19 international at Sunbury on Friday afternoon.
England Under-19 coach Nigel Redman has chosen a squad of 26 players.
There are five players back from the England Under-19 side which ended third behind Australia and New Zealand in Dubai last year. Newcastle Falcons fullback Alex Tait – the brother of England centre Mathew – is joined in the squad by Hugo Ellis (London Wasps), Andy Saull (Saracens), Ben Thomas (Saracens) and Adam Greendale (Leeds Tykes), who were all part of that England team.
England Under-19 play three internationals this season in preparation for the IRB's Under-19 World Championship in Belfast in April. After Italy at home, they play Wales in Port Talbot on 2 March and France at Henley RFC on 24 March.
In their pool matches England play Argentina, Samoa and New Zealand.
Italy's coaches Stefano Romagnoli and Andrea Cavinato have also chosen a squad of 26 players which gathers in Rome on Tuesday before leaving for London on Thursday.
Both sides have players who play their club rugby for Saracens. England have Noah Cato, Ben Thomas and Andy Saull while Italy have Mark Wilson.
Italy go on to play France in a warm-up match and then go on to Belfast where they are seeded third in Division B and play Chinese Taipei, Chile and Tonga in their pool matches.
England Under-19 squad:
Backs: Alex Tait (Newcastle Falcons), David Smith (Northampton Saints), Gareth Griffiths (Bristol), Greg King (Worcester Warriors), Tom Bedford (Exeter Chiefs), Noah Cato (Saracens), David Howells (London Irish), Adam Greendale (Hymers College & Leeds Tykes), Alex Goode (Saracens), Michael Young (Newcastle Falcons), Johnny Arr (Worcester Warriors), Richard Bolt (Exeter Chiefs),
Forwards: Billy Moss (Bath), Jack Steadman (Bristol), Joe Williams (Gloucester), Nathan Catt (Bath), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Scott Freer (Leeds Tykes), Ben Thomas (Saracens), Greg Gillanders (Leicester), Scott Hobson (Cornish Pirates), Matthew Cox (Worcester), Jon Fisher (Wellington College & London Irish), Andy Saull (Saracens), Garth Dew (Sale Sharks), Hugo Ellis (London Wasps)
Italy squad: Pietro Aggio (Femi Cz Rovigo), Andrea Bacchetti (Femi Cz Rovigo), Alberto Bergamo (Cammi Calvisano), Riccardo Bocchino (Almaviva Ur Capitolina), Alberto Cazzola (Asr Montebelluna), Giulio Cenedese (Benetton Treviso), Alberto Chiesa (Bozzi Livorno), Andrea De Marchi (Benetton Treviso), Simone Favaro (Benetton Treviso), Francesco Fiorani (Benetton Treviso), Filippo Giusti (Colleferro Rugby), Alessandro Leo (London Wasps), Marcello Magri (Stade Francais), Giovanni Massaro (Marsec Benevento), Rudolf Mernone (Futura Park Rugby Roma), Gabriele Morelli (Cammi Calvisano), Marco Moscarda (Orved San Donà), Daniele Pompa (Overmach Parma), Andrea Pratichetti (Almaviva Ur Capitolina), Roberto Quartaroli (Infinito L’Aquila), Massimiliano Ravalle (Overmach Parma), Edoardo Rotella (Almaviva Ur Capitolina), Lorenzo Sebastiani (Infinito L’Aquila), Nicola Simion (Benetton Treviso), Elia Violi (Cammi Calvisano), Michael Wilson (Saracens)
