England’s U20s will head to Italy later this month for the 2025 World Rugby U20 Championship, drawn in a challenging pool alongside Scotland, Australia and South Africa.
With a blend of players returning from the U20 Six Nations and fresh faces hoping to make their mark, the squad is focused on carving out its own legacy, not living in the shadow of last year’s unbeaten champions.
One of those hoping to make his debut at U20 level is 18-year-old tighthead prop Ollie Streeter.
After breaking into the Harlequins senior team this season with three appearances off the bench, including a memorable debut at Twickenham, he has been included in his first matchday squad at 20s level for a warm-up game against Wales.
Speaking the day before the game, which takes place on June 6th, Streeter said, “For me, I’m not as nervous as some of the lads on their first appearance would be.”
“I was in and around it before the Six Nations, been in a lot of camps before and done the 19s stuff a few months ago.
“Don’t have the butterflies in my stomach but I can’t speak for tomorrow (the Wales game) yet. I’m just really up for getting onto the field and playing.”
Streeter’s Rise
Streeter’s rise has been rapid, considering he only started playing rugby at 13.
“I don’t know what I was doing before that, I think I was playing cricket or something but I’m rubbish at that. One of my mates said to come down to a local rugby club and I went from there.”
From grassroots at Haywards Heath to the Harlequins academy and now the England U20s, Streeter credits the development system for his progress.
“It was my P.E teacher at the time, Martin, who put me up for the Quins academy and the rest of it is just through the academy system which is why I praise it.”
Streeter isn’t the only Premiership-tested player in the squad. 19-year-old Newcastle Falcons scrum-half Joe Davis has been a regular presence in the Premiership this season, playing 12 times and scoring his first try against Exeter Chiefs.
“When I caught it and I was running in I wondered whether it would get pulled back,” Davis said of that try. “Nicking it off Ben Coen was quite handy, quite funny after the game.
“But, brilliant. You watch it on TV when you’re younger and watch players coming up through the ranks and your favourite players on the TV scoring tries in the Prem, it was quite a cool moment.”
Joe Davis
Davis, who has two caps for the U20s, was involved in England’s U20 Six Nations campaign earlier this year. He played 44 minutes in the loss to Wales, a result that still lingers slightly ahead of their warm-up rematch before the Championship.
“Yeah, we spoke a little bit around it this week. It is behind us, we are prepping for the World Cup now,” Davis said. “There’s a little bit of ‘They did one over on us’. The lads who played in that game will want to put a marker down, but we’re all about prepping for the World Cup.”
England head into the tournament as defending champions, but both players are keen to look forward, not back.
“It’s all about this year,” said Streeter. “As much as last year was great, did the World Cup and went unbeaten, that’s a mental achievement and for those lads, Sean Kerr and Ben Waghorn, it’s all they talk about when I sit with them.
“This year, in camp now, it’s all about us and this group, how we can go and do the same because there’s no point talking about their memories, we’ve got to make our own.”
Davis echoed that mindset.
Mindset
“We’ve touched on it a little bit in camp, more getting away from the defending champs bit and more how we’re going to win it this year.
“There’s going to be that level of expectancy of what other teams and media are going to expect from us, but we’ve pushed that to the side and focused on us as a group.”
Davis’s own inclusion hasn’t come without setbacks. He was initially left out of the England setup going into the Six Nations earlier this year, before forcing his way back in for the final two games.
“So Tofty (Mark Mapletoft) left me out of the EPS squad, the wider squad pre-Christmas and he was pretty honest with me, told me I wasn’t good enough at the moment. A lot around my defensive work so I had to put a lot of time and effort into that.”
The hard work paid off, and now he sees this summer as an opportunity to solidify his place on the international stage. “20s gives you the threat on selection, same way it does in the Prem and there’s a bit more exposure to social media and stuff like that.”
England will face Scotland, Australia, and South Africa in the pool stage in Italy, with their opening game against Scotland coming on June 29th.
By Charlie Elliott
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