Former North Midlands Under-15s trio James Scott, Ted Hill and Beck Cutting helped England launch their World Rugby Under-20 Championship campaign with a 39-18 win over Argentina in Narbonne.
Lock Scott and blindside flanker Hill started the match and hooker Cutting was among the replacements. They are all members of the Worcester Warriors academy.
England led 19-15 at half-time through two Jordan Olowofela tries, a try for Henry Walker and two James Grayson conversions.
Argentina had responded with tries via Santiago Chocobares and Bautista Pedemonte as well as five points from the boot of Juan Bautista Daireaux.
Second-half tries from Walker and Marcus Smith, both converted, as well as Tom Hardwick’s penalty helped seal victory for England with Joaquín de la Vega Mendía kicking Argentina’s only points of the half.
They will next play Italy in Perpignan on Sunday before ending their Pool B fixtures against Scotland in Beziers.
“We looked a bit rusty at times, a bit rattled, giving that early score away and then it became a bit frantic and we lost our composure a little bit,” said England head coach Steve Bates.
“There were some really good bits in there, we scored some good tries, we scrummaged well, we got the ball from the lineout and scrum regularly, so all in all we’ll look back on that and say that’s not a bad start to the tournament.
“There is plenty for us to work on but that’s a tough start, a physical start, so we’ve got to be careful with our recovery now and move forward.
“I think it is really important in this competition that you’re not chasing points all the time so winning, particularly the first game, is massive and it’s very important to start with that.”
England U20s
15. Tom Parton (London Irish), 14. Ali Crossdale (Saracens), 13. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), 12. Tom Hardwick (Leicester Tigers), 11. Jordan Olowofela (Leicester Tigers), 10. James Grayson (Northampton Saints), 9. Ben White (Leicester Tigers), 1. Toby Trinder (Northampton Saints), 2. Henry Walker (Gloucester Rugby), 3. Ehren Painter (Northampton Saints), 4. Joel Kpoku (Saracens), 5. James Scott (Worcester Warriors), 6. Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors), 7. Ben Curry (Sale Sharks) – captain, 8. Josh Basham (London Irish)
Replacements:
16. Beck Cutting (Worcester Warriors), 17. Alex Seville (Gloucester Rugby), 18. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), 19. Sam Lewis (Leicester Tigers), 20. Tom Willis (Wasps), 21. Rory Brand (London Irish), 22. Marcus Smith (Harlequins), 23. Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins).