The ISRFC Lambs have named their 2016 National Squad following Sunday’s Northern Lambs v Southern Lambs fixture at Loughborough University.
The South won the game 36-17, in a competitive game with a firm emphasis on the Lambs’ fabled ‘fast and free’ style of play. With the game serving as the final round of selection to the National squad, it natural made for an exciting and competitive atmosphere, which was reflecting in Lambs National Director Alex Laybourne’s comments on selection post game:
“The selection committee and management team had a extremely difficult task to whittle the squad down to 36. There were some great players on show and we were delighted to see the boys express themselves with the ball in hand, trying to play open and expansive rugby. “
“Next Sunday (31st January) we will come together as a squad for the first time to play Irish Exiles. Its always a hard fought game and we look forward to another brilliant encounter with this group of boys who will look to create some rugby memories that will stay with them for a long time.”
A 23-man squad will be selected from the 36 man National Squad ahead of each Lambs fixture, beginning with the Irish Exiles game on Sunday as the Lambs seek to give each player plenty of game time ahead of the Easter tour of Argentina.
Those ‘warm up’ games will include tough fixtures against Northampton Saints U17, Saracens U17, Boys Club of Wales, RFU Midlands U18, Crawshay’s Welsh, and of course the Irish Exiles.
The highlight of the Lambs season, as ever, will be the Easter tour. This year the Lambs head to Argentina, on 25th March, on a tour that will include fixtures against Uruguay U18, Chile U18, a Buenos Aires Select XV (which will be akin to an Argentina U18 side), and another fixture, which is yet to be confirmed.
It is set to be a hugely exciting few months for the 36 selected players, who hail from twenty-eight schools. Woodhouse Grove are the most represented of those schools, with four players, Mason Knowles, Alfred Nordgren, Louis Fraser, and Edward Linkogel. Blundell’s have three, Arthur Friend, Charlie Wilder, and Ben Oliphant-Thomson, while Stamford, Pangbourne College, and Felsted each have two representatives.
| ISRFC Lambs 2016 National Squad | |
| Name | School |
| Front Row (9) | |
| Nick Atkinson | Giggleswick |
| Jack Starkey | Queen Ethelburga’s College |
| Ben Parker | RGS Newcastle |
| Charlie Bannister | Canford |
| Oliver Short | Wisbech Grammar |
| Daniel Ali | Cheltenham College |
| Edward Linkogel | Woodhouse Grove |
| Cory Nelson | Caterham |
| Ben Oliphant- Thomson | Blundell’s |
| Second Row (4) | |
| Reece McCarthy | Trinity |
| Eddie Goss | Wellingborough |
| Alec Hampden‐Smith | Mount Kelly |
| Harry Johnson | Ashville College |
| Back Row (7) | |
| Will Burns | Pocklington |
| Charlie Wilder | Blundell’s |
| Sam Hudson | St Peter’s, York |
| Henry Wills | Stamford |
| Samuel Bloomer | Churcher’s College |
| George Cassell | Bloxham |
| Louis Fraser | Woodhouse Grove |
| Half Backs (5) | |
| Charles Guthrie | Yarm |
| George Hitchcock | Felsted |
| James Costin‐Pratt | Pangbourne College |
| Toby Buckland | Royal Hospital School |
| James Lennon | Felsted |
| Centres (4) | |
| Will Vaughan | Pangbourne College |
| Isaac Rayworth | Plymouth College |
| Callum Corbett | Stamford |
| Jacob Weightman | Durham |
| Back Three (7) | |
| Daniel Hubble | Truro |
| Joseph Triegaardt | Reed’s |
| Alfred Nordgren | Woodhouse Grove |
| Arthur Friend | Blundell’s |
| Harry Sagar | Bradford Grammar |
| Mason Knowles | Woodhouse Grove |
| Will Hughes | Berkhamsted |