The ISRFC Lambs selection process for the 2016/17 season is well and truly underway.

Following hundreds of nominations, the four regional trials were held on Sunday 4^th December, the start of a process that will eventually see 38 players selected to wear the Lambs’ famous pink National XV shirt.

The trals were held at Woodhouse Grove School, The Perse School, Reed’s Weybridge RFC, and Clayesmore School with four squads, North, Midlands, South East, and South West, to be selected.

The Lambs aim for a ‘fast and free’ style of play, so a dry, if cold, day saw the players able to display those traits to the best of their abilities.

The four squads now face warm up fixtures, with the North, Midlands, and South West playing fixtures on Sunday 11^th December and the South East playing on Sunday 18^th, before meeting up as Wisbech Grammar School on Sunday 8^th January for the ‘Regional Festival’, after which the prestigious National Squad will be selected.

The North squad has yet to be named, but the Midlands squad will face The Perse this Sunday. The 31-man squad includes two players from the host school, William Tyrell and Louis McManus. Unsurprisingly Felsted, having reached the NatWest Cup semi finals, are well represented. Hugo Brown, Jack Rye, and William Barker have all been selected. Denstone College also picked up a couple of representatives, Tommy Collingwood and Joshua Hart.

Berkhamsted, fresh from completing three unbeaten seasons at home, have an impressive four players in the suqad, George Carter, Matt Harris, Finlay Cripps, and Cameron Pope. So too Royal Hospital School with Ed Fletcher, Cedric Hoskyns-Abrahall, Tobias Allday, and Charlie Ewen. St Edward’s Oxford meanwhile have three players in the squad, Angus Atkinson, Luke Valentine, and Dekoye Coker, while Wellingborough have two representatives, Sam Howell and Matthew Chalcraft.

The South West, meanwhile, face Somerset U17 on Sunday. They have selected a slightly smaller squad with 27 players selected for the warm up fixture. Queen’s College Taunton have Jack Guy and Adam Harrison representing them, while Clayesmore, who hosted the trial, have three in George Vasey, Max Tipping, and Oliver Dunstan.

Sherborne’s strong season sees them represented by Rafe Yewdall and Kit Delamain, so too Cheltenham College with Jamie Thorley and Ed Johnston. King Edward’s also have two representatives in Christopher Seaby and David March, while Canford, so impressive this season, have three, Toby Hett, Patrick Regan, and George Leggett.

King’s College Taunton have Tom Puttman and Charlie Agbo selected, with Millfield also having two representatives in Ben Mallett and Tom Wood. Wellington School also have two, Ben Hohnson and Ben Howe.

The South East have to wait a little longer for their game, they do not face London Scottish at Richmond RFC until Sunday 18^th December. They have selected a much smaller 22 man squad, however they will have another five players also travelling with the squad.

Three props are selected Trinity’s Thomas Petter, Pangbourne College’s Alexander Zenda, and Ryan Aujla of Reed’s. Caterham’s Conor McNeil is the sole hooker, with Harrow’s William Heywood, Reed’s Tom Prigmore, and Kingham Hill’s Adam Smith are the locks.

Harrow’s success this season sees two of the back row options being provided by them, Fabian Dovree and Alex Du Sautoy, with Mill Hill’s Jake Sugg, Pangoburne College’s Ollie Jones, and Leo Lewis of St Joseph’s College complete the back row options.

Norwich’s Alex Leeder and Highgate’s Matthew Houppermans are the scrum half options, with St Joseph’s Anton Limlei the sole fly half in the squad. His schoolmate Max Taylor-Calver is one of the centres, along with Kent College’s Lewis Hewitt, Pangbourne’s Louis Ellis, and Alex O’Connor of Reed’s. The outside backs are Che Ochugboju of Caterham, Kent College’s Daniel Marsik, and Matthew Atkins, Pangoburne’s fourth players in the squad.

Thomas Sanders of UCS, Colfe’s Chris Harris, St Joseph’s Ewan Kingdon, and the Dulwich College pair of Odi Oladuji and Dwight Hubbard will also travel.

Speaking following the selection of the squad, Lambs National Director, Alex Laybourne, said:

“The quality of trials has once again been fantastic, the boys worked exceptionally hard to showcase their skill sets and each of them did both their school and their schoolmasters who nominated them very proud.”

“Each of the regional coaching teams have had a very difficult job reducing their squads down; and that process will be even harder when it comes to the final national selection. I am very excited to see the Regions come up against each other at Wisbech and to see the National season unfold.”

ISRFC Lambs Regional Squads:

North XV: TBC

Midlands squad v The Perse, Sunday 11^th December:

Hugo Brown – Felsted

Tommy Collingwood – Denstone Cllege

Didi Vidal-Adegun – Bishop’s Stortford College

George Carter – Berkhamsted

Jack Rye – Felsted

Ed Fletcher – Royal Hospital School

Cedric Hoskyns-Abrahall – Royal Hospital School

Matt Harris – Berkhamsted

Tobias Allday – Royal Hospital School

Charlie Adams – King Henry VIII, Coventry

Dekoye Coker – St Edward’s, Oxford

James Peachey – Stamford

Joshua Hart – Denstone College

Milo Linney – Uppingham

Sam Knight – Wrekin College

William Garrad – King’s Ely

Luke Pritchard-Barrett – Framlingham College

Charlie Ewen – Royal Hospital School

Sam Howell – Wellingborough

William Barker – Felsted

Luke Valentine – St Edward’s, Oxford

Finlay Cripps – Berkhamsted

Tom Lomas – Woodbridge

Matthew Chalcraft – Wellingborough

Lewis Webb – Wrekin College

Cameron Pope – Berkhamsted

Angus Atkinson – St Edward’s, Oxford

Charlie Harrington – Haileybury

Rory Pond – Rugby

William Tyrell – The Perse

Louis McManus – The Perse

South East squad v London Scottish, Sunday 18^th December, 12.30pm, Richmond RFC:

Props

Thomas Petty – Trinity

Alexander Zenda – Pangbourne College

Ryan Aujla – Reed’s

Hooker

Conor McNeil – Caterham

Locks

William Heywood – Harrow

Tom Prigmore – Reed’s

Adam Smith – Kingham Hill

Back Row

Jake Sugg – Mill Hill

Ollie Jones – Pangbourne College

Fabian Dobree – Harrow

Alex Du Sautoy – Harrow

Leo Lewis – St Joseph’s College

Scrum Halves

Alex Leeder – Norwich

Matthew Houppermans – Highgate

Fly Half

Anton Limlei – St Joseph’s College

Centres

Max Taylor-Calver – St Joseph’s College

Lewis Hewitt – Kent College, Canterbury

Louis Ellis – Pangbourne College

Alex O’Connor – Reed’s

Outside Backs

Che Ochugboju – Caterham

Matthew Atkins – Pangbourne College

Daniel Marsik – Kent College, Canterbury

Also Travelling:

Thomas Sanders – UCS

Ewan Kingdon – St Joseph’s College

Odi Oladuji – Dulwich College

Chris Harris – Colfe’s

Dwight Hubbard – Dulwich College

South West squad v Somerset U17, Sunday 11^th December:

Oscar Carter-Burns – West Buckland

William Laver – Milton Abbey

Ben Johnson – Wellington School

Charlie Agbo – King’s College Taunton

Will Bird – Taunton School

George Leggett – Canford

George Vasey – Clayesmore

Ed Johnston – Cheltenham College

Kit Delamain – Sherborne

Ben Mallett – Millfield

Ben Howe – Wellington School

David Marsh – King Edward VI School

Patrick Regan – Canford

Tom Wood – Millfield

George Hartson – Wycliffe College

Adam Harrison – Queen’s College, Taunton

Max Tipping – Clayesmore

Tom Puttman – King’s College, Taunton

Toby Hett – Canford

Christopher Seaby – King Edward VI School

Jamie Thorley – Cheltenham College

Eddie Jenkinson – Portsmouth Grammar

Rafe Yewdall – Sherborne

Oliver Dunstan – Clayesmore

Tristan May – Exeter School

Jack Guy – Queen’s College, Taunton

Thom Leman – Plymouth College