The selection, which has been made earlier than in previous seasons, sees the pair aim to tighten cohesion within the collective and build into the upcoming u/20 Six Nations and U20 World Championships in a resolute fashion.
Mapletoft takes charge in his first full campaign steering the pathways side after three years of involvement with the England U18s, as well as a decade worth of experience coaching Harlequins prior.
Former England international and British & Irish Lions tourist Titterrell continues his pathway role into a fourth campaign, specialising in coaching the team’s pack after joining the national set-up from Wasps in 2020.
The current squad includes 12 previously capped players for the u/20 Men; Joe Bailey, Harry Browne, Finn Carnduff, Zach Carr, Toby Cousins, Afolabi Fasogbon, James Halliwell, Nathan Michelow, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Ben Waghorn, Alex Wills and Craig Wright will be looking to impart their experience on the wider squad and build on their previous showings.
In a largely refreshed squad, the elected players consist of 19 forwards and 13 backs with all 10 Premiership Rugby academies represented in the makeup of the team.
The player pathway programme at England Rugby is a crucial structural foundation to develop the future of international rugby in England; with two members of the 2022 u/20 Men’s Elite Player Squad (Henry Arundell and Will Joseph) now capped at senior level.
28 of the 33 senior England men’s players at the 2023 Rugby World Cup are capped England u/20 representatives, with all but one of the squad having represented England at least one age-grade.
The u/20 class of 2024 will prepare for another year of competitive action with camps at Browns Sports Resort, Portugal and Bisham Abbey across December and January, as well as a newly announced pair of exhibition warm-ups against Bath Rugby and Oxford University.
Italy awaits in the opening meeting of the 2024 u/20 Six Nations (2 February 2024, 21:15 SA Time) kick-off), with England hosting both Wales (tickets available here) and Ireland in next year’s competition.
Ahead of the squad announcement, head coach Mark Mapletoft expressed his belief in the 32 players selected for his u/20 side this season.
“Andy and I have assembled an extremely talented group to take us into this season, we have every confidence in their ability as well as their mindset as a team,” he stated.
“It’s a pleasure to be heading up the u/20s side, I thoroughly enjoyed my time involved with the u/18s and rest assured, I will continue to work closely with Jonathan [Pendlebury, England u/18 Men’s head coach] and Will [Parkin, England u/18 Men’s assistant coach] to ensure a streamlined experience for our boys in the pathway.
“Over the next few months, we will be working towards establishing continuity within our play and link together these very special players to best represent the England shirt in 2024.”
Titterrell commented: “It’s been great to work alongside Mark [Mapletoft] over the summer and the u/20 World Championships were a good reflection of the hard work and dedication we’ve put in so far, he's added great value to the u/20s programme.
“We have liaised closely with Premiership clubs, academies and universities following our time in South Africa as to best advise our decision to select this squad, and for that I thank them.
“As a unit, we’ll strive to maintain that intensity in our output on the training paddock and in our upcoming fixtures against Bath and Oxford University to lead into our trip to Italy in February.”
ENGLAND u/20 MEN ELITE PLAYING SQUAD - 2023/24
Forwards: Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)*, Cameron Miell (Leicester), Craig Wright (Northampton)*, Jacob Oliver (Newcastle), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester)*, James Halliwell (Bristol)*, Billy Sela (Bath), Joe Bailey (Exeter)*, Jack Bennett (Bath), Olamide Sodeke (Saracens), Finn Carnduff (Leicester)*, Harry Browne (Harlequins)*, Tom Burrow (Sale), Nathan Michelow (Saracens)*, Reuben Logan (Northampton), Henry Pollock (Northampton), Zach Carr (Harlequins)*, Kane James (Exeter), Lucas Schmid (Harlequins).
Backs: Archie McParland (Northampton), Ollie Allan (Leicester), Josh Bellamy (Harlequins), Rory Taylor (Gloucester), Alex Wills (Sale)*, Toby Cousins (Northampton)*, Sean Kerr (Harlequins), Charlie Myall (Leicester), Ben Waghorn (Harlequins)*, Will Glister (Northampton), Malelili Satala (Leicester), Ben Redshaw (Newcastle), Ioan Jones (Gloucester).
(*Previously capped at u/20 level)