The class of 2008: What happened to the England XV that reached the first U20 final?
Top 10s/ListsWednesday, 14 February 2018 at 16:38
It is 12 years since England reached the final of the first Junior U20 championship. Having breezed through their pool and then seen off South Africa in the last four, England were flattened by New Zealand in Swansea, losing 38-3.
The side, coached by Nigel Redman and Mark Mapletoft, went into the tournament following a Grand Slam of victories in the season's U20 Six Nations competition.
While the score was demoralising, there was no disgrace in losing to one of their oldest foes, who had a squad that contained Ryan Crotty, Sam Whitelock and future Scotland international Sean Maitland.
England had quality on the bench with Ben Youngs, in particular, going on to have a stellar career.
But what happened to the 15 selected for battle in 2008? RUCK takes a look.
Fullback: Noah Cato - RETIRED
The then Saracens player was thrust into the limelight early in his career, finishing as the clubs top try-scorer in 2009, and would follow up his exploits with the U20s by winning four caps for the England Saxons. However, his subsequent move to Northampton was not a success and he was rarely been part of the first XV. Joined Newcastle in 2013 and helped them back into the Premiership before he was released in 2015.
Winger: Mark Odejobi - RETIRED
Retiring from rugby at the age of 26, the London born winger hung up his boots this year and pursued a career in the financial industry in 2006. He had successful club stints with Wasps, London Scottish, Henley and Esher before spending the last three years of his career jet-setting around the world with the England Sevens squad.
Centre: Luke Eves - Hartpury College
Luke started his career with hometown club Bristol. As well as playing club rugby he also has international experience, captaining the England U20 side which reached the final yet again a year later in June 2009. He signed for Newcastle from Bristol towards the end of the 2009/10 season. He returned to Bristol in January 2012 before joining Hartpury College in 2015, helping them to promotion to the Championship.
Centre: Jordan Turner-Hall - RETIRED
Turner-Hall went onto have a highly successful career before being forced to retire due to injury in 2015. Developing into one of the most powerful and destructive centres in the Premiership, he played a pivotal role in the back to back victories against Stade Francais during the 2008/09 Heineken Cup campaign. During his ten year career, he made over 150 appearances for the Club, winning silverware with the Amlin Challenge Cup and the Aviva Premiership.
Winger: Miles Benjamin - RETIRED
Benjamin retired from rugby because of a knee injury in 2016. The England Saxons international, who was just 27, joined Leicester from Worcester before the start of the 2013-14 season but has been plagued by injuries and made just 29 appearances, scoring 10 tries.
Fly-half: Alex Goode - Saracens
One of the most versatile players in the club’s back division, Alex Goode has developed into a star for Saracens in the past few seasons, playing over 230 games for Saracens. His consistency in delivering outstanding performances for Saracens has seen the team win 3 Premiership titles and back-to-back Champions Cup titles in an extremely successful period for the club. He also went onto win 21 caps for England.
Scrum-half: Joe Simpson - Gloucester
He joined the Wasps Academy in the summer of 2006 and developed rapidly, making his senior debut in October 2008. After some eye-catching appearances off the bench and some top tries, he became first choice scrum-half by the end of 2008/09 and was promoted to the First XV squad ahead of the 2009/10 season. He has one full England cap. He will join the Cherry and Whites for the 2019/20 season.
Prop: Nathan Catt - Bath
fter rising through the ranks of the Bath Rugby Academy, Nathan Catt made the step up to the first team squad in 2008. An athletic prop, Nathan has a very good all-round game, with his power in the tight combining with excellent handling skills and mobility around the field to make him a threat in all areas of the game. Catt has been involved in England squads under Eddie Jones but has yet to win a full international cap.
Hooker: Joe Gray - Harlequins
The Aviva Premiership winning hooker has previously represented England at U20s, where he won a Six Nations Grand Slam, and at Saxon level, winning the Churchill Cup. He made his senior Test debut during England's 2014 tour to New Zealand. However, he's another player who went onto win just one full England cap.
Prop: Alex Corbisiero - RETIRED
Corbisiero has represented England at Under-18, Under-19 and Under-20 level before making his full debut in 2011. He then went onto represent the men in white at the 2011 World Cup and in total won 31 caps up until 2016. He's the only player from the squad who went onto represent the British & Irish Lions, winning two Test caps as the tourists, which included scoring a try in the third Test as they claimed a historical series win against the Wallabies in 2013.
Lock: Ben Thomas - RETIRED
The second-row, who was then a Saracens player, later joined Rotherham Titans in the Championship before moving to National League One side Coventry.
Lock: Gregor Gillanders - Rosslyn Park
He was a professional rugby player for Leicester Tigers, Bedford Blues and London Scottish before going part-time with Blackheath to concentrate on work away from the sport. He, however, returned to play for London Scottish before joining Rosslyn Park.
Flanker: Jon Fisher - RETIRED
The then London Irish player had a fantastic career, representing the Exiles, Bedford, Northampton and Bristol in his career. Fisher, by mutual agreement with Bristol Rugby, opted to take time out to assess his playing career in 2017 following ten years in the top flight. The flanker, who represented England against the Barbarians in 2015, then decided to hang up his boots and returned to London Irish as a forwards coach.
Flanker: Calum Clark - Saracens
Clark has featured for his country at age group level, playing for England U18’s up to U20’s. He progressed to senior International rugby in 2014, captaining England Saxons against the Irish Wolfhounds, as well as being included in the Elite training squad, making a full debut against France in the Rugby World Cup 2015 warm-up match against France.
Number 8: Hugo Ellis - Rosslyn Park
The captain of the England U20 side, who scored two tries on the way to the final, Ellis was a Wasps player at the time before joining Newport Gwent Dragons in 2010. He then joined Welsh Premiership side Newport before making the move back to England to join Rosslyn Park in 2012.
Replacements: Scott Freer (Leeds Carnegie), Billy Moss (Bath Rugby), Scott Hobson (Cornish Pirates), Matthew Cox (Worcester Warriors), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers), Rob Miller (Newcastle Falcons), Seb Stegmann (Harlequins).
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