The 18-year-old has been rewarded for his excellent run of form which has seen him bag six tries – a hat-trick for England Under 18s against Argentina, a brace for Leicester Tigers at French giants Biarritz, and one in a friendly at Swansea against Ospreys.

A delighted Hurrell said: "I'm chuffed to bits. I'm really looking forward to playing with the squad, which includes my Tigers team-mates Ben Youngs and Tom Collett. They were in the squad last year but this is my first involvement.

"With the Tigers, I will be playing mainly development and academy matches for a start, but will be hoping to get a Guinness Premiership start midway through the season."

The Under-20 Elite Player Squad will be coached by Mark Mapletoft and Martin Haag, playing RBS Under-20 Six Nations games before travelling to the IRB Junior World Championship in Japan.

The Under-20 programme includes a four-day get-together this month and a warm-weather winter training camp in Portugal before the Six Nations begins with a home game against Italy on February 7.