May 6th, 2008

Gloucestershire will be looking to break the strangle hold Yorkshire hold on the National Under 20s Championship when the two clash in Saturday’s final at England rugby’s HQ, kick-off 11am.

The South West side are up against the reigning champions and also winners of the National Under 20s championship a massive six times. They have in fact contested eight finals.

Gloucestershire though are confident they can upset the reigning champions and cause an upset on Saturday.

Gloucestershire Under 20s Head Coach Paul Morris, who is in his seventh season with the county side, said: “I’m very pleased and very proud that we are through to the final but at the moment getting there is not enough. We want to win and Yorkshire would be very wrong to dismiss the challenge we will pose.”

Morris, also Head Coach at Cheltenham North, is of course fully aware of Yorkshire’s rich history in this tournament and he says Gloucestershire will be going into the game with the utmost respect for their rivals.

He added: “At this level Yorkshire have all the pedigree and history. They have won six out of eight finals and I have heard this side is as good as they have ever been, if not better, so we have the utmost respect for them.

“On the other hand, we will be thinking about ourselves and our strengths. For us, our strength is the unity we have. I don’t believe we have any weak units. The team have gelled together so well it’s like coaching a club side.  All of our players know each other inside out, some of them have even been playing together as under 8s for the likes of Dursley and Matson and that is a massive help.

“For us, this is the first time we have made the final and we have had to get through a very strong division to get there, beating the likes of Devon, Cornwall and most recently Hampshire and Dorset and Wilts in the knock out stages.

“It’s going to be a great occasion playing at Twickenham and I really want the boys to have the time of their lives on Saturday.”

For Yorkshire they go into the final with just one enforced change to the side that swept North Midlands aside so emphatically in the semi-final.

Second-row forward Dan Chamberlain (Leeds) has damaged his foot and his place goes to Dominic Parsons of Sheffield Tigers. The change brings Kieran Dannatt (Hull Ionians) onto the replacement bench.

Yorkshire go into the final on the back of a nine-try, 57-10 win over North Midlands and a first-half of irresistible rugby in which they scored seven tries and led 45-5 at the break.

Despite that impressive performance, the White Rose management are very aware of the challenge that awaits them on Saturday.

“I think Gloucestershire will be the strongest team we’ve played,” says Yorkshire Chairman Paul Jackson: “Like Yorkshire, they have an unbeaten record and we will need to be on top form to maintain our winning run.”

Statistics are notoriously unreliable, but one fact that is available from matches earlier in the season provides food for thought.

A pre-season friendly involving Gloucestershire and Cheshire brought a 40-3 home win for the South West team, while in the championship proper, Yorkshire emerged 68-0 winners at New Brighton.

Ends…