The Dragons academy prop was part of the Welsh squad for last year’s tournament in Japan but was forced to withdraw after a freak injury days before flying out to the Far East.

But having returned to the side as an integral part of last month’s Six Nations campaign, the 20-year old was named captain for this year’s World Championships between June 5 and 12.

And Watchurst is adamant there’s no better way to gather momentum than by notching a victory against rivals England.

“The England match isn’t just a warm-up for us – we’re desperate to win it,” said Watchurst.

“I’ve never been involved with a team that’s beaten the English throughout age group rugby so hopefully we can get a win against them and move on to the World Championships off the back of that.

“Missing the Junior Worlds last year was a really frustrating time for me because I dislocated my foot in practice right before we were due to fly out. I had to have surgery as well so I didn’t even fly out with the squad.

“But I really wasn’t expecting to be named captain for this tournament. I was lucky enough to captain the team for a couple of Six Nations games earlier this year which was an honour as well so I’m really looking forward to getting out there now.”