England have named an unchanged side for today's opening game of the IRB U19 World Championship against Samoa.

Coach Nigel Redman keeps faith with the starting line-up that beat France 29-5 for the contest with the islanders at Shaw's Bridge in Belfast (7.30pm).

England will go on to face Argentina and New Zealand in the group stages on April 9 and 13 before the play-off games on April 17 and the finals on April 21.

The squad includes six survivors from last year's tournament, when England finished in a best-ever third place after beating France in a play-off.

Number eight Hugo Ellis captains the side with his London Wasps team-mate Joe Simpson at scrum-half, while Leeds Tykes' Adam Greendale is at fly-half and Saracens' Andy Saull in the back-row. Exeter Chiefs scrum-half Richard Bolt and Saracens lock Ben Thomas are on the bench.

"We did particularly well against France two weeks ago and we've decided to go with the same starting side against Samoa at Shaw's Bridge," said Redman.

"We've got a tough series of pool games against three Southern Hemisphere sides and it's important we get off to a strong start.

"But we don't just want to stand still with the same group of players - we want to build on the positive things that we did against France and continue to take our game forward throughout the tournament."

The 11 remaining players in the squad will be on the bench and seven can be used as replacements during the game.

England U19 v Samoa: 15 Alex Goode (Saracens) 14 David Smith (Northampton Saints) 13 Tom Bedford (Exeter Chiefs) 12 Alex Tait (Newcastle Falcons) 11 Noah Cato (Saracens) 10 Adam Greendale (Leeds Tykes & Hymers College) 9 Joe Simpson (London Wasps) 1 Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby) 2 Joe Williams (Gloucester Rugby) 3 Alex Corbisiero (London Irish) 4 Scott Hobson (Cornish Pirates) 5 Gregor Gillanders (Leicester Tigers) 6 Matthew Cox (Worcester Warriors) 7 Andy Saull (Saracens) 8 Hugo Ellis (Captain, London Wasps) Replacements: Jack Steadman (Bristol Rugby), Scott Freer (Leeds Tykes), Billy Moss (Bath Rugby), Ben Thomas (Saracens), Danny Pointon (Northampton Saints), Gareth Griffiths (Bristol Rugby), Richard Bolt (Exeter Chiefs), Greg King (Worcester Warriors & Hartpury College), Garth Dew (Sale Sharks), Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors), Jon Fisher (London Irish & Wellington College).

Match schedule April 5: Samoa v England (Shaw's Bridge, 7.30pm) April 9: Argentina v England (Belfast Harlequins, 7.30pm) April 13: New Zealand v England (Ravenhill, 5.30pm) April 17: Match Day Four April 21: Match Day Five