Mapletoft has built a competitive England Under-20 side over the years – completing the Grand Slam in 2008 and reaching the last two IRB Junior World Championships finals.

England kick of their Six Nations campaign against Wales on February 5 and with Guinness Premiership regulars James Gaskell, Tom Homer and Rory Clegg also in the squad Mapletoft is expecting standards to be high.

“The strength in depth we have is increasing and I'm really pleased with the game time our players have been getting in the Guinness Premiership,” said Mapletoft.

“The support and buy-in from the clubs has been really positive and our objective is that it will give England more and more options at a senior level in the years to come.

“I’m also really pleased for Joseph. He had some areas to work on that we’d talked about in September and he’s been very good this season.

“He’s solid defensively, makes things happen with ball in hand and he’s extremely coachable. He’s stuck his hand up over the last few months and it’s nice to be able to reward that.”

England Under 20 Elite Player Squad

Forwards
Joe Marler (Harlequins), Lee Imiolek (Sale Sharks), Jamie George (Saracens), Arthur Ellis (London Wasps), Shaun Knight (Gloucester Rugby), Mako Vunipola (Bristol Rugby), Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons), Calum Green (Leicester Tigers), Danny Wright (Gloucester Rugby), James Gaskell (Sale Sharks), Peter Elder (London Wasps), Charlie Matthews (Harlequins), Jamie Gibson (London Irish), Jacob Rowan (Leeds Carnegie), Will Welch (Newcastle Falcons), Alex Gray (Newcastle Falcons), Jackson Wray (Saracens)

Backs
Sam Harrison (Leicester Tigers), Jordi Pasqualin (Gloucester Rugby), Sam Stuart (Harlequins), Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby), Rory Clegg (Harlequins), Jake Sharp (Saracens), Tom Catterick (Newcastle Falcons), Tom Casson (Saracens), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby), Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Sam Smith (Harlequins)
Christian Wade (London Wasps), Marcus Watson (London Irish), Will Hurrell (Leicester Tigers), Tom Homer (London Irish)