The ISRFC Lambs Regional U18 Squads have been named ahead of Sunday’s National Festival.
Taking place at Wisbech Grammar School from 10.30am to 3pm, the National Festival sees the four regions, North, Midlands, South East and South West, meet for a series of games that will act as trial matches for the ISRFC Lambs National Squad.
That squad will be selected by the coaching panel, led by Lambs National Director Alex Laybourne, who said of the Festival:
“The National Festival is always a fantastic event in its own right and I am excited about the standard of players who have been selected and the brand of ‘Fast and Free’ rugby that will be on display.”
“The regional managers have worked hard to select prepare their teams in what has been a challenging process. The festival will inevitably lead to a very competitive National squad for the upcoming National season.”
That National season kicks off just a week after this final trial, when the Lambs face Irish Exiles U18 at Maidenhead RFC on Sunday 14th January. It is the first of seven fixtures that the Lambs will take in before their Easter tour of Croatia and Italy, which will run from the 30th March to the 11th April, before two further games upon their return against Crawshays Welsh XV and Gloucester Academy.
Gloucester are one of three academies that the Lambs will face this season, including Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs, while they will also take on Nottingham University and their old rivals Boys Club of Wales. New fixtures this year also include a game against touring side Club Atletico San Isidro and a game against a Lambs Old Boys XV.
For the chance to play in those fixtures though, players will first have to impress in the regional trials on Sunday to force their way into the National Squad.
The North are yet to pick their side but the Midlands, South East, and South West have all picked their.
The Midlands opt for a 27-man group, with thirteen different schools represented. Felsted have five representatives in the group, Piers Martin, Ollie Hills, Connor Mak, Tyler Tomlinson, and William Barker, while Framlingham College have four, and Berkhamsted, Bedford, and Wisbech Grammar School have three each. Rugby School have two players in the squad.
The South East opt for a 25-man squad for Sunday’s fixtures. Fifteen schools are represented in the South East squad, with Trinity leading the way, they have four players in the group, Luke Medcraft, James Hammond, Maclaren Crawford, and John Petty. Reed’s have three of their players in the squad, while Harrow, Caterham, Pangbourne College, Kent College, and Champions Trophy winners Dulwich College each have two representatives each.
The South West have selected the smallest squad, with 23 players named. Like the Midlands, they have thirteen schools represented in their squad. Portsmouth Grammar School are the most represented, with four players, Joe Martin, Harry Webb, Joe Hunter, and Fergus Gibson. Kingswood have three players in the squad, while Cheltenham College, Churcher’s College, King’s College Taunton, and Truro School each have two representatives.
| ISRFC Lambs U18 Regional Squads | ||
| Front Row
| ||
| Midlands | South East | South West |
| William Chapman (Framlingham College) | Tyreece Asamoah (Dulwich College) | Henry Massey (Millfield) |
| Adam Pugh (Wellingborough) | Kiran Pchabayia (Kent College) | Tom Weightman (Truro) |
| Samuel Wright (Rugby) | Harry Mason (Reed’s) | Fintan Yeatman (Colston’s) |
| Oliver Brown (Shiplake College) | John Petty (Trinity) | Ewen Dangerfield (Wycliffe College) |
| Toby Lee (Royal Hospital School) | Didi Vial-Adegun (Bishop’s Stortford Coll) | Joe Martin (Portsmouth GS) |
| Hugh Phillipson (Berkhamsted) | Scott Olive (KES, Southampton) | |
| Second Row
| ||
| Midlands | South East | South West |
| Max Humphries (Abingdon) | Ben Keen (St Benedict’s) | Jack Chapman (West Buckland) |
| Paddy Langdale (Radley College) | Aidan Turnbull (Eton College) | Angus Lyon (King’s College, Taunton) |
| Toby Risebrow (Framlingham College,) | William Eglen (Mill Hill) | Harry Webb (Portsmouth GS) |
| Tom Wyles (St Edward’s, Oxford) | Joe Hunter (Portsmouth GS) | |
| Harry Taylor (Kingswood – also no8) | ||
| Back Row
| ||
| Midlands | South East | South West |
| William Barker (Felsted) | John Clayson (Reigate GS) | Aiden Ali (Cheltenham College – also prop) |
| Louis Cooper (Berkhamsted) | Joe Thompson (Reading Blue Coat) | James Galley (Clayesmore) |
| Bradley Hutler (Wisbech GS) | Haydn Oakley (Dulwich College) | Jack Kelly (Kingswood) |
| Oliver Perkins (Berkhamsted) | Maclaren Crawford (Trinity) | |
| Tyler Tomlinson (Felsted) | Nikolas Orlich (Epsom College) | |
| Scrum Half
| ||
| Midlands | South East | South West |
| Connor Mak (Felsted) | Daniel Simmons (Pangbourne College) | Dylan Joseph (Churcher’s College) |
| Jolyon Summers (Framlingham College) | Ozzie Chalmers (Harrow) | Josh Hughes (Cheltenham College) |
| Jack Trundley (Wisbech GS) | James Hammond (Trinity) | |
| Fly Half
| ||
| Midlands | South East | South West |
| Ollie Hills (Felsted, fly half) | Beau Roberts (Reed’s) | Olly Penny (Kingswood) |
| Alfie Orchard (Bedford, fly half) | ||
| Centres
| ||
| Midlands | South East | South West |
| Oliver Mann (Wisbech GS) | Sam Cornelius-Merrell (Kent College) | Sebastian Kay (Churcher’s College) |
| Mungo Rioda (Uppingham,) | Lachlam Coyle (Caterham) | |
| Tom Watson (Framlingham College) | William Sanders (St John’s, Leatherhead) | |
| Sasha Efimov (Pangbourne College) | ||
| Josh Bray (Culford) | ||
| Back Three
| ||
| Midlands | South East | South West |
| Aaron Borland (Bedford) | Josh Fatoye (Caterham) | Henry Williams (Truro) |
| Matthew Hackney (Rugby) | Luke Medcraft (Trinity) | Dan Luedicke (King’s College, Taunton) |
| Piers Martin (Felsted) | Ed Revill (Harrow) | Wilfred Nicholson (Hampshire Collegiate) |
| Reni Omotolilola (Bedford) | Salvador Soiano (Reed’s) | Fergus Gibson (Portsmouth GS) |
ISRFC Lambs U18 National Squad Season:
Sunday 14th January
Irish Exiles (14.00, Maidenhead)
Sunday 21st January
Exeter Chiefs (10.45, Exeter University)
Sunday 4th February
Nottingham University U19s (14.00, Nottingham University)
Sun 18th February
Boys Club of Wales (15.00, Merthyr)
Tuesday 27th February
Northampton Saints (19.00, TBC)
Saturday 3rd March
Club Atletico San Isidro U19 (12.00, Nottingham University)
Saturday 24th March
Old Boys (11.00, Aylesbury RFC)
30th March – 11th April
Tour, Croatia and Italy
Sunday 15th April
Crawshays Welsh (Venue & ko TBC)
Sunday 22nd April
Gloucester (14.30, Hartpury RFC)
