WORCESTER Warriors' Will Butler and Justin Clegg will start for England against South Africa in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship semi-finals tomorrow (3pm).

Wing Darren Atkins gets his first start of the tournament while the side will again be led by number eight Zach Mercer.

Gabriel Ibitoye, who has five tries so far in the competition, is named on the left wing.

Butler is at centre alongside Theo Brophy Clews while Clegg starts at lock.

“I want to see the guys go out there, enjoy themselves and play with a lot of energy,” said England assistant coach Tom Williams.

“This group have got huge character, they have shown it against Ireland to win the Grand Slam and against Australia to get us into this semi-final.”

England are unbeaten in the tournament in Georgia, having sealed bonus-point victories against Samoa (74-14) and Wales (34-22) before defeating Australia 20-19 in their final pool game.

They face South Africa at Tbilisi's Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in a repeat of last year’s semi-final and Williams is relishing the fixture.

“South Africa are an interesting team because they provide two separate type of challenges — a big forward pack and some quick and exciting backs.” he added.

Ibitoye is the joint top scorer of the tournament and Williams hailed his performances.

He also recognised the opportunity for the other wing Darren Atkins who was called into the Championship as a late injury replacement.

“I’m thrilled for Gabs. He’s fulfilling some of the promise he showed throughout his academy time at Quins,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for Darren.”

England: Parton (London Irish); Atkins (Bath), Butler (Worcester), Brophy Clews (London Irish), Ibitoye (Harlequins); Malins (Saracens), Mitchell (Northampton); Adams-Hale (Saracens), Mullis (Gloucester), Street (Exeter), Caulfield (Exeter), Clegg (Worcester), Lamb (Harlequins), Earl (Saracens), Mercer (Bath). Replacements: Walker (Gloucester), Dawe (Bristol), Knight (Gloucester), Davies (Newcastle), Bayliss (Bath), Randall (Gloucester), Umaga (Wasps), Odogwu (Sale).