The Under 20 SIX Nations, not as glamorous as the SIX Nations for the senior teams, is intensely contested.

Last year England were the unbeaten winners followed, in order, by France, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Italy.

Like their senior team, England’s Under 20 captain is a hooker – Jack Walker, whose brother Chris captained the 2012 side which retained the championship.

Coach John Callard said: “The 1st game of any Championship is always tough, especially playing away in Scotland, but the players are excited about getting started.

“We’ re looking for them to use this competition to continue developing their all-round game.  For example, we want functionally fit forwards who, as well as having a strong set piece, are ball handlers and good decision makers right across the field.

“You can always come back to a tighter game but we want players to see this as an opportunity to express themselves and enjoy playing for their country.”

Scotland’s coach John Dalziel, said: “We’ve got a big and experienced pack – all of whom were involved throughout last year’s Under 20 season – and a wealth of experience at this level in the backline, and so we’ re excited about what the team has to offer.

“The players who have made the step up to Under 20 this year have really added to the group and have shown they deserve their call-up.

“The mantra of this team is winning in blue, and a strong core of this group have had the buzz of victory on home soil, which is a real positive, and adds to the sense of confidence in the squad.”

Last year they beat Wales, Ireland and Italy, Scotland’s best Under 20 achievement so far.

Ireland have only 3 players back from the 2015 team, which performed poorly. They hope rather than expect to do well. Their coach Nigel Carolan said in naming the team: “While the majority of the lads taking to the field on Friday are new to this level, many will have benefited from their experiences with the provinces and this has shown in their preparation over the last number of weeks. We know that it will be a tough encounter 1st up but we’re all looking forward to kicking the campaign off on a positive note.”

Ireland Under 20 have moved to their new home at Donnybrook.

Wales coach Jason Strange said, “The side is boosted by the regional experience of some of our key players, while the younger players joining the squad have benefitted from an international pathway which has seen them progress from Wales Under 18 and the development tour to South Africa over the summer which gives the players a huge amount of confidence and bridges the gap between the 2 age groups.

“We want to play a fast, attacking style of rugby that will pose questions of the opposition and the 3G pitch at Donnybrook will suit that approach.”

France have a new coach – Didier Faugeron – in place of Gérald Bastide. Speaking about the side the manager, famous French loose forward, Olivier Magne, said that the selection of the team had taken little time for himself, Faugeron and Thomas Lièvremont, as it pretty well selected itself after the experience with the players over the age-group years. He expected them to do well.”

Alessandro Troncon, Italy’s most capped player and now the coach of the Italian Under so side, said of his team: “We’re an interesting team and very young. It may be almost a sort of Under 19, given the large presence of players born in 1997. I’m happy with the Group at my disposal.”

Teams:

Ireland vs Wales at Donnybrook on Friday 5 February 2016, kick-off 19:35 UK Time:

Ireland: 15 Jack Power (UCD), 14 Matthew Byrne (Terenure College), 13 Shane Daly (Cork Constitution), 12 Jimmy O’Brien (UCD), 11 Hugo Keenan (UCD), 10 Johnny McPhillips (Queen’s University), 9 John Poland (Cork Constitution), 8 Max Deegan (Lansdowne), 7 Will Connors (UCD), 6 Cillian Gallagher (Sligo), 5 James Ryan (Lansdowne – Captain), 4 Peter Claffey (Galwegians), 3 Conan O’Donnell (Sligo), 2 Adam McBurney (Ballymena), 1 Andrew Porter (UCD)
Replacements: 16 Shane Fenton (Young Munster), 17 James Bollard (Dublin University), 18 Conor Kenny (Buccaneers), 19 Sean O’Connor (Cashel), 20 Kelvin Brown (Shannon), 21 Stephen Kerins (Sligo), 22 Brett Connon (Newcastle Falcons/Exile), 23 Conor O’Brien (Clontarf).

Wales: 15 Rhun Williams (RGC), 14 Elis-Wyn Benham (Cardiff Blues), 13 Harri Millard (Cardiff Blues), 12 Owen Watkin (Ospreys), 11 Keelan Giles (Ospreys), 10 Dan Jones (Scarlets), 9 Declan Smith (Scarlets), 8 Harrison Keddie (Newport Gwent Dragons), 7 Shaun Evans (Scarlets), 6 Tom Phillips (Scarlets – Captain), 5 Adam Beard (Ospreys), 4 Shane Lewis-Hughes (Cardiff Blues), 3 Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues), 2 Dafydd Hughes (Scarlets), 1 Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Blues)
Replacements: 16 Ifan Phillips (Scarlets), 17 Robert Lewis (Cardiff Blues), 18 Leon Brown (Newport Gwent Dragons), 19 Bryce Morgan (Newport Gwent Dragons), 20 Morgan Sieniawski (Cardiff Blues), 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys), 22 Jarrod Evans (Cardiff Blues), 23 Joe Thomas (Ospreys).

Referee: Thomas Charabas (France)
Assistant Referees: Sébastien Minery (France), Paul-Henri Courbier (France)
TMO: Vincent Azoulay (France)
Assessor: Gary Welsh (England)

Scotland vs England at Broadwood Stadium on Friday 5 February 2016, kick-off 20:00 UK Time:

Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh), 14 Darcy Graham (Hawick), 13 Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints), 12 Tom Galbraith (Melrose), 11 Robbie Nairn (Harlequins),  10 Adam Hastings (Bath), 9 Hugh Fraser (Heriot’s), 8  Ally Miller (Melrose), 7 Matt Smith (Glasgow Hawks), 6 Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), 5 Scott Cummings  (Glasgow Hawks – Captain), 4 Andrew Davidson (Glasgow Hawks), 3 Callum Sheldon (Leeds Beckett University), 2 Jake Kerr (Boroughmuir), 1 Murray McCallum (Heriot’s)
Replacements: 16 Lewis Anderson (Ayr), 17 Ben Christie (Loughborough University), 18 Adam Nicol (Stirling County), 19 Callum Hunter-Hill (Stirling County), 20 Scott Burnside (Boroughmuir), 21 Charlie Shiel (Currie), 22 George Taylor (Melrose), 23 Ben Robbins (Currie).

England: 15 Mathew Protheroe (Gloucester), 14 Ollie Thorley (Gloucester), 13 Joe Marchant (Harlequins), 12 Charlie Thacker (Leicester Tigers), 11 George Perkins (Saracens), 10 Joe Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs), 9 Max Green (Yorkshire Carnegie), 8 Callum Chick (Newcastle Falcons), 7 Josh Bainbridge (Yorkshire Carnegie), 6 Archie White (Harlequins), 5 Stan South (Harlequins), 4 Huw Taylor (Worcester Warriors), 3 William Stuart (Wasps), 2 Jack Walker (Yorkshire Carnegie – Captain), 1 Tom West (Wasps)
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton (Worcester Warriors), 17 Jake Pope (Sale Sharks), 18 Billy Keast (Exeter Chiefs), 19 Andrew Kitchener (Worcester Warriors), 20 Zach Mercer (Bath), 21 Jamie Shillcock (Worcester Warriors), 22 Sam Aspland-Robinson (Harlequins), 23 Taylor Prell (Yorkshire Carnegie).

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Frank Murphy Frank (Ireland)
TMO: Seamus Flannery (Ireland)
Timekeeper: John McLaughlin (Scotland)

France vs Italy at Stade Marcel-Verchère, Bourg-en-Bresse on Sunday 6 February 2016, kick-off 21:00 French Time:

France: 15 Romain Buros (Pau), 14 Eliott Roudil (La Rochelle), 13 Damien Penaud (Clermont), 12 Atila Septar (Brive), 11 Gabriel NGandebe (Massy Essonne), 10 Anthony Belleau (Toulon), 9 Christopher Kaiser (Narbonne), 8 Anthony Jelonch (Castres), 7 Jean-Baptiste Grenod (Toulon), 6 Matthieu Voisin (Racing), 5 Mathieu Tanguy (La Rochelle), 4 Florian Verhaegue (Toulouse), 3 Clément Castets (Montpellier – Captain), 2 Etienne Fourcade (Grenoble)
Replacements: 16 Elyes El Ansari (Massy Essonne), 17 Peato Mauvaka (Toulouse), 18 Michaël Simutoga (Clermont), 19 Théo Hannoyer (Castres), 20 Judicaël Cancoriet (Clermont) 21, Baptiste Couilloud (Lyon), 22 Alexandre Arrate (Biarritz), 23 Alexandre Pilati (Bordeaux-Bègles).

Italy: 15 Luca Sperandio (Marchiol Mogliano), 14 Pierre Bruno (Marchiol Mogliano), 13 Roberto Dal Zilio (Paese), 12 Dario Schiabel (San Donà), 11 Lorenzo Masato (Marchiol Mogliano), 10 Leonardo Mantelli (Femi-Cz Rovigo), 9 Vincenzo Trussardi (Clermont), 8 Gabriele Venditti (Fiamme Oro Roma), 7 Giovanni Pettinelli (Accademia Nazionale Ivan Francescato), 6 Davide Fragnito (Benevento – Captain), 5 Leonard Krumov (Viadana), 4 Vittorio Alberto Mantegazza (Capitolina), 3 Marco Riccioni (Calvisano), 2 Marco Manfredi (San Donà), 1 Daniele Rimpelli (Reggio)
Replacements: 16 Engjel Makelara (Marchiol Mogliano), 17 Damiano Borean (San Donà), 18 Giosuè Zilocchi (Elephant Rugby) / Nicolò Ceccato (Marchiol Mogliano), 19 Samuele Ortis (Lyons), 20 Davide Ciotoli (L’Aquila), 21 Matteo Maria Panunzi (Capitolina), 22 Peter Boris Mokom (Viadana) / Mihai Ciju (Reggio), 23 Erik Dho (Torino).

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Dai Cambourne (Wales), Stuart Kibble (Wales)
TMO: Paul Adams (Wales)
Assessor: Jim Fleming (Scotland)