WARRIORS duo Matt Kvesic and Andy Short have been included in England under 20s head coach Rob Hunter’s 26-man squad for the Junior World Championship (JWC) in Italy, which kicks off on June 10.

The Sixways youngsters played a big part for the Red Rose side when they completed a Six Nations Grand Slam earlier this year.

The squad contains players with a huge amount of Aviva Premiership, A-League and Championship experience, and Hunter is pleased with the players at his disposal.

He said: “We’re very happy with the 26 selected. It wasn’t easy to narrow it down, we had a lot of competition, but a lot of the lads played well throughout the 6 Nations and deserve their seat on the plane to Italy.”

England face Ireland in their JWC opener, just three months after betaing them 46-16 in Athlone to secure their Grand Slam, but Hunter says they will be a different proposition in Italy.

“The JWC is a very different competition to the Six Nations,” he added. “There are a lot of games in a relatively short amount of time.

“The first one against Ireland, when everyone is fresh, will be very tough. No matter who rocks up in an Ireland shirt, they will always play with incredible pride, and incredible passion.”

England U20s squad, forwards: Mako Vunipola (Bristol), Ryan Bower (Leicester Tigers), Will Collier (Harlequins), Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks), Koree Britton (Gloucester), Rob Buchanan (Harlequins), Mikey Haywood (Northampton Saints), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Sam Twomey (Harlequins), Charlie Matthews (Harlequins), Sam Jones (Wasps), Matt Everard (Leicester Tigers), Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors), Alex Gray (Newcastle).

Backs: Chris Cook (Bath), Dan Robson (Gloucester), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Ryan Mills (Gloucester), Guy Armitage (London Irish), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Andy Short (Worcester Warriors), Marland Yarde (London Irish), Christian Wade (Wasps), Ben Ransom (Saracens).