The Cheltenham College product who has made a number of Gloucester A appearances this year has been an integral part of Matt Salter's Clifton side this season, along with fellow academy players Reece Dunne, Harry Butler & Tom Stanton. All have had significant game time for Clifton over the course of the campaign and have been welcomed in by the wider squad as they continue their rugby journey in a club environment.

England men U20s are led by Dickens who is supported by James Tirrell (backs) and Alex Codling (forwards).

"There is a huge challenge ahead for us on Saturday against a France side who are back-to-back World Rugby U20 Champions and they will be under pressure to perform in front of their home supporters," said Dickens.

"I've coached teams to play in France before and this will be a great experience for the players. It is usually a hostile atmosphere, they are hugely patriotic when it comes to rugby, and we are expecting no different in Grenoble.

"We need to have the ability to adapt, games of rugby are won by the team that can tactically adapt during the 80 minutes and that has been a big focus for us.

"Ultimately though you always have to go back to why we play rugby and that is for enjoyment and I want the players to remember that on Saturday night. If we enjoy it, get our processes right we will get the result.

"The attitude, skill level and commitment of the players in the time we've had together has been fantastic and I'm looking forward to seeing them put all that hard work into an 80 minute performance on Saturday."

England men U20s team to play France

1. James Whitcombe (Leicester Tigers)

2. Theo Dan (Saracens)

3. Luke Green (London Irish)

4. George Hammond (Harlequins)

5. Ben Donnell (London Irish)

6. JJ Tonks (Northampton Saints)

7. Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs)

8. Rusiate Tuima (Exeter Chiefs)

9. Sam Maunder – captain (Exeter Chiefs)

10. Manu Vunipola (Saracens)

11. Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)

12. Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby)

13. Connor Doherty (Sale Sharks)

14. Gabriel Hamer-Webb (Bath Rugby)

15. Josh Hodge (Newcastle Falcons)

Replacements

16. Ben Atkins (London Irish)

17. Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints)

18. Harvey Beaton (Saracens)

19. Hugh Tizard (Harlequins)

20. Jack Clement (Gloucester Rugby)

21. Jack Van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)

22. George Barton (Gloucester Rugby)

23. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)