Ruddock’s side were comfortably beaten 46-15 at home in Athlone as England completed an RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam in March.

But they were without Ulster backs Luke Marshall and Craig Gilroy as well as Leinster flyer Andrew Conway.

Now with a full squad available for the clash in Treviso, Ruddock is well aware that he side cannot afford to make a slow start with South Africa lying in wait in a strong pool.

“We know we are a quality team now,” said Ruddock, whose under-20 side also lost at home to France during the Six Nations.

“We have had some good preparation and if we catch England before they get into their groove we think that we can do a bit of damage.

“We are going in a very positive frame of mind: we know that England are favourites; we know they are the champions at the moment in under-20 rugby in Europe; we know they have a lot of players who have played Premiership rugby; we know they are a quality team.

“But we are certainly not going in there without any chance and we think we have every chance.

“The boys have trained very well, we have had a really good preparation: two warm-up matches which we didn’t have before last year’s tournament so we are really positive about our preparations and really ready to get stuck into them.”