This Saturday at 4pm the England Students v France Universities rivalry resumes in a 4pm Kick Off at Coventry’s Butts Park Arena LIVE here on NextGenXV.
Tickets for the game are still available through Coventry Rugby here, while for those unable to attend you will be able to watch the game LIVE here on NextGenXV through the NextGenXV YouTube Channel and through the embedded video below, with Dave Rogers guiding you through alongside Charlie Titcombe, who played in the last two England Students v France Universities games.
Titcombe was on the winning side in both of those encounters, with England winning the tightest of games 16-15 at home in 2022, before travelling to France last year and winning an absolute thriller 25-21 for their first victory on French soil in 17 years.
Three players from that England side remain, last year’s vice captain and openside Lucas Dorrell of Exeter University, Hartpury College’s Josiah Edwards-Giraud, who started on the wing, and Leeds Beckett’s Callum Hancock, who started on the bench last year.
Dorrell is one of five University of Exeter students in the squad, alongside Charlie McCaig, Jack Forsythe, Joshua MacAndrew, and Tom Gulley, who all played their part in Exeter’s road to the League title in BUCS Super Rugby this year.
In the National Championship final though, Exeter were pipped at the post by league runners up Loughborough University in a thriller, 35-31. Four of Loughborough’s stars are in the 23 for Saturday Charlie Briers, Eric Nixon, George Taylor, and Morgan Meredith.
England are once again under the stewardship of University of Newcastle Director of Rugby Darren Fearn, alongside Gareth Bebit and Mark Matzopoulous, and Fearn has two of his Newcastle charges in the squad for Saturday, Joe Mounsey and Oliver Fletcher.
Elsewhere in the squad Leeds Beckett provide three players, Callum and Connor Hancock, and Louis Kirkham, likewise Hartpury College with the aforementioned Edwards-Giraud alongside Rhys Price and the exciting Thomas Matthews. Bath Uni have a couple of players in the squad, Will Jeanes and Iwan Price-Thomas, while Cardiff Met, Nottingham Uni, Nottingham Trent and Durham Uni all provide one player each, Barnaby Waddell, Connor Moyse, Jay Ecclesfield, and Max Pepper, who has seen game time for Newcastle Falcons this season, respectively.
The England Students side formed in the early 1970s, and in that time the likes of Kyran Bracken, Lawrence Dallaglio, Will Greenwood, and Josh Lewsey have passed through, alongside more recent internationals such as Mark Wilson, Harry Williams, and Tom Dunn, and 7s stars such as Dan Bibby, Phil Burgess, Tom Mitchell, and the 7s and 15s star Ruaridh McConnochie.
France Universities has been an incredible pathway, with four of the nations most illustrious captains passing through, including the current head coach; Fabien Galthie, Thierry Dusautoir, Raphael Ibanez, and Serge Betsen.
Jean-Henri Tubert France is the Head Coach of the France Universities side, which includes four players associated with Bayonne, Lycée Cantau Bordeaux’s Nathan Van de Ven, Université Pau Pays de l’Adour’s Rafael Cayuela, ISA BTP Anglet’s Pierre Castillon, and Kedge Bayonne’s Max Bru. Cayuela is joined by his University teammate Aïtor Hourcade, who is linked with Bourgoin, as is Grenoble EM’s Paul Champ.
Three players in the squad are linked to Lyon, Liam Rimet of ISRAC Business School in Lyon, Noa Pommelet of INEAD, and INSA Lyon’s Ugo Vignolles. Colomiers and Racing 92 are the only other clubs with multiple representatives, INSA Toulouse’s Antoine Lere and Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse’s Farell Delourmel for Colomieres, and Nils Chalies of ISFA Nature and Lilian Rinardo of Université Paris Cité for Racing 92.
Louka Baudet (Université de Toulon) represents Toulon, with Antoine Bouthier (Université de Perpignan) representing Perpignan, and David Geneste (Université de Limoges) representing Brive. Stade Francais see Nathan Huguen (ESILV Paris) pull on the blue shirt, with Julien Ratajczak (ESG Immobilier) representing Oyonnax, and Valentin Tonin (Université de Montpellier) Nimes, while Matéo Arruti (Talis Business School) is associated with Biarritz, and Thibaut Carrie (ESC Pau) is connected to Pau.
Bastien Daguerre (STAPS Tarbes) is connected to the Dax setup, Louis Mauro (Oxytalis Montpellier) is connected to Aubenas-Vales, who play in the third tier of French Rugby.
The starting sides for this unique game are due to be announced on Friday morning, but make no mistake, for all 23 on each side this is a huge honour. It is the highest level of University rugby in Europe and a genuine stepping stone on the road to the professional game.
It’s not to be missed!
England Students Squad
Barnaby Waddell (Cardiff Met)
Callum Hancock (Leeds Beckett)
Charlie Briers (Loughborough Uni)
Charlie McCaig (Exeter Uni)
Connor Hancock (Leeds Beckett)
Connor Moyse (Nottingham Uni)
Eric Nixon (Loughborough Uni)
George Taylor (Loughborough Uni)
Iwan Price-Thomas (Bath Uni)
Jack Forsythe (Exeter Uni)
Jay Ecclesfield (Nottingham Trent)
Joe Mounsey (Newcastle Uni)
Joshua MacAndrew (Exeter Uni)
Josiah Edwards-Giraud (Hartpury College)
Louis Kirkham (Leeds Beckett)
Lucas Dorrell (Exeter Uni)
Max Pepper (Durham Uni)
Morgan Meredith (Loughborough Uni)
Oliver Fletcher (Newcastle Uni)
Rhys Price (Hartpury College)
Tom Gulley (Exeter Uni)
Thomas Matthews (Hartpury College)
Will Jeanes (Bath Uni)
France Universities Squad
Louka Baudet (Université de Toulon)
Antoine Bouthier (Université de Perpignan)
Max Bru (Kedge Bayonne)
Pierre Castillon (ISA BTP Anglet)
Rafael Cayuela (Université Pau Pays de l’Adour)
David Geneste (Université de Limoges)
Aïtor Hourcade (Université Pau Pays de l’Adour)
Nathan Huguen (ESILV Paris)
Louis Mauro (Oxytalis Montpellier)
Julien Ratajczak (ESG Immobilier)
Lilian Rinardo (Université Paris Cité)
Valentin Tonin (Université de Montpellier)
Ugo Vignolles (INSA Lyon)
Matéo Arruti (Talis Business School)
Nils Chalies (IFSA Nature)
Paul Champ (Grenoble EM)
Thibaut Carrie (ESC Pau)
Bastien Daguerre (STAPS Tarbes)
Farell Delourmel (Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse)
Antoine Lere (INSA Toulouse)
Noa Pommelet (INEAD)
Liam Rimet (ISRAC Business School, Lyon)
Nathan Van de Ven (Lycée Cantau Bordeaux)
