Six Cardiff Blues have been named in Wales U20s' side as Jason Strange makes three changes for the must-win clash with England.
Following their slender defeat to Australia in the opening match, Jason Strange’s side must win to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semi-finals in Georgia.
With such a short turnaround between matches, Strange has been forced to make a handful of changes with Jarrad Rosser starting on the wing and Owen Lane moving to centre, in the place of injured Cameron Lewis.
Up front Pontypridd’s Sean Moore and Cardiff Blues’ Aled Ward replace regional teammates Callum Bradbury and James Botham respectively, who drop to the bench.
While Wales U20s lost to the auld enemy during the Six Nations, they triumphed in the previous two and Strange has been enthused by elements of their performance against Australia.
He said: “We’ve had a couple of minor injuries so we’ve had to rotate players a little bit. The players coming in are fresh and enthusiastic and we’ve moved Owen Lane into the centre, who will offer something different.
“We certainly won’t be overawed by it. In the U20s we have beaten England twice in the last three and we know what they will bring.
“That’s a big driving lineout and they’ll use their no 8 to gain a lot of momentum. It’s about looking at their strengths but also understanding what our strengths are and bringing our best game on Sunday.
“We’re confident, it was a good performance against Australia, we just need to be a little more clinical with our opportunities and hopefully we will do well.”
Four Cardiff Blues – Tom Mably, Bradbury, Botham and Ben Jones – are named on the bench.
There is one further change among the replacements with Stef Thomas covering tight-head after Scott Jenkins was ruled out of the tournament with an ankle injury.
Harri Dobbs, who came through the Cardiff Blues age-grade system has subsequently been called up to the extended Wales U20s squad and has already arrived in Georgia.
Wales U20s to face England U20s:
Will Talbot-Davies (Newport Gwent Dragons)
Jared Rosser (Newport Gwent Dragons/Wales Sevens)
Ioan Nicholas (Scarlets)
Owen Lane (Cardiff Blues)
Ryan Conbeer (Scarlets)
Arwel Robson (Newport Gwent Dragons)
Dane Blacker (Cardiff Blues)
1 Rhys Carre (Cardiff Blues)
2 Ellis Shipp (Newport Gwent Dragons)
3 Kieron Assiratti (Cardiff Blues)
4 Will Griffiths (Ospreys)
5 Sean Moore (Pontypridd)
6 Shane Lewis-Hughes (Cardiff Blues)
7 Will Jones (c) (Ospreys)
8 Aled Ward (Cardiff Blues)
Replacements
16 Owen Hughes (Newport Gwent Dragons)
17 Tom Mably (Cardiff Blues)
18 Stef Thomas (Scarlets)
19 Callum Bradbury (Cardiff Blues)
20 James Botham (Cardiff Blues)
21 Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys)
22 Ben Jones (Cardiff Blues)
23 Joe Goodchild (Newport Gwent Dragons)