May 7, 2007

Yorkshire's Under-15s won an epic Roses battle to clinch the silverware in the Royal & SunAlliance National Youth Festival at Rugby School.

The last five years have seen the Festival become an important proving ground for the country's best young players.

And Yorkshire emulated the White Rose side that current England Under-20 captain Danny Care led to victory in the 2002 tournament by beating Lancashire 20-12.

Surrey finished third after running Devon ragged in the play-off with East Midlands clinching fifth place ahead of Middlesex.

For Yorkshire, Chris McTurk scored two tries in the final on The Close, with George Elliott and captain Chris Walker putting them in the clear before Lancashire scored twice late on through hooker Kyle Manson-Kullin.

Lancashire were handicapped by injuries throughout the second day of the tournament, losing two players in the morning and two more during the final with Josh Stratton (shoulder) and James Morris (neck) receiving treatment on the pitch with the former taken to hospital.

But Yorkshire were not to be denied, playing with maturity and intelligence, and key individuals like Elliott and Walker have the ability to push for places in England's age-group sides over the next few years.

They also have a sense of history, with coach Dave Rogers delivering a rousing address to his players beneath the plaque at the birthplace of the game that commemorates the moment when William Webb Ellis first wewepicked up the ball and ran.

"It's been an unbelievable event with the quality of the organisation, a brilliant setting and a fantastic ambience throughout the weekend," said Rogers.

"We took the lads across to the plaque this morning and read it to the team and made the point to them that this is the elite event for under-15s in England and we have come here to win it.

"I'm very pleased with what they've achieved. They've done a lot of work this season on their personal skills and decision making."

Lancashire drew on a large contingent from the Ormskirk and Preston clubs and kept their shape and nerve to score twice in the final to impress coach Greg McMillan.

"We're obviously disappointed. We thought we had a good squad only for us to really suffer with injuries, but I'm proud of the way they've played."

Surrey thumped Devon 34-7 in the third-place play-off, after going down 17-7 to Yorkshire in the semi-finals.

Stephen Heggarty, David Bargent, Darion Naylor, Alex Sumrie and Toby Quarenden scored tries in the play-off game when Surrey were without their injured leading scorer Sam Edgerley who touched down nine times at the Festival.

Royal & SunAlliance National Youth Rugby Festival
Cup final: Yorkshire 20 Lancashire 12
Third place play-off: Surrey 34 Devon 7
Fifth place play-off: Middlesex 7 East Midlands 24
Seventh place play-off: Cheshire 19 Kent 17

Plate final: Essex 12 North Midlands 5
Third place play-off: Somerset 17 Buckinghamshire 14
Fifth place play-off: Leicestershire 0 Notts, Lincs & Derby 12
Seventh place play-off: Gloucestershire 0 Oxfordshire 28

Bowl Final: Dorset & Wilts 12 Sussex 15
Third place play-off: Eastern Counties 28 Cumbria 22
Fifth place play-off: Hampshire 19 Hertfordshire 10
Seventh place play-off: Warwickshire 10 Durham 5

Shield Final: Northumberland 0 Staffordshire 24
Third place play-off: Berkshire 10 Cornwall 12

ends