PODCAST – Hat trick hero Hodgson hoping for more from England U18

22 July 2010

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Joel Hodgson looks ahead to England U18s final tour match

Joel Hodgson celebrates scoring a try in a match between England U18 and Australia Schools

Photo: Getty Images

England's latest hat trick hero Joel Hodgson has vowed to put the team’s record winning run to the back of his mind as he prepares to face South Africa tomorrow.

Hogdson will start at fly half for England U18s and told today’s RFU podcast that the side are looking to keep their unbeaten run of 19 games in tact, saying: "No-one wants to be part of the team that loses a fantastic record like that.

"But to be honest it’s not really on our minds at the moment. We’re just focusing on this game and preparing the way we always have done. I hope that’ll come good in the end."

John Fletcher’s young guns ran in ten tries to beat France 66-19 on Tuesday and Fletcher’s men also dispatched a Namibian XV 35-10 in their opening South African tour match, having completed a third successive Grand Slam earlier this year.

Friday’s big test against South Africa comes a year after their landmark 45-13 win over the junior Springboks in Kimberley. Having started at scrum half for first game and run in three tries from fly half for the second, Hodgson is pleased to have retained the No. 10 shirt:

"At club I’ve gone for 10 but I would never turn down a chance to play for my country. If they asked me to play anywhere I would, it all helps me for the future."

The match takes place in Port Elizabeth and kick off is at 1.25pm. You can read full match reports and keep-to-date with the tour in the England Age Groups news section.

To hear the interview in full and the rest of the RFU.com podcast, right click on the link and select 'save as' to download the July 22, 2010 podcast or subscribe via iTunes by pasting the following url into the subscribe page http://www.rfu.com/podcast/subscribe/podcast.xml

Also on this week’s podcast:

Rugby’s heroes - BBC Radio Newcastle summariser Ian Smith opens the cover on his new Rugby Union: The Men Who Make The Game, which features fifteen iconic interviews with some of the sport’s top names, capturing the essence of their journeys to the very top of the sport

The RFU podcast takes you inside English rugby from the grassroots to the elite.