February 18, 2008

England Students have called up eight survivors of last season's historic double against France for Saturday's game in Tournon-sur-Rhone.

Last season they recorded an 8-6 win in Cahors - their first on French soil in 14 years - and followed it up with a 19-10 victory at Iffley Road.

This time head coach Steve Hill is able to call on three backs and five of the forwards from those games - including an entire front-row in Kevin Davis (Loughborough), Joe Clark (Cambridge) and Aaron Liffchak (Hertfordshire) - in his 22-man squad.

"We're very pleased to have that continuity and rather than have students in their final years we've been looking to pick them up earlier and develop them which is why we've been working with a wider squad of 36 this season," said Hill, who is the director of rugby at Oxford University.

"This will be a very tough fixture as France were smarting last year's results, particularly after we won over there for the first time in years. The game at Tournon is the centrepiece of a huge rugby festival in the area and it's already a 6,000 sell-out."

Hill believes this season's side may have more firepower behind the scrum with Leeds Met fly half Richard Vasey and wing Scott Armstrong both released by Guinness Premiership side Leeds Carnegie.

The back row resources are strengthened by Cambridge No 8 James Lumby, who is playing in National One at Bedford, and South African born flanker Andries Pretorius, a key figure in Hartpury College's BUSA title win last season.

England Students squad
(v France Students, Tournon-sur-Rhone, Saturday, 3pm)

Backs
Scott Armstrong (Leeds Metropolitan)
Phillip Ellis (Hertfordshire)
Tom Gregory (Oxford)
Toby Henry (Oxford)
Tom Jarvis (Hartpury College)
Giles Pryor (Loughborough)
Richard Vasey (Leeds Metropolitan)
Tristan Roberts (Hartpury College)
Dominic Shaw (Newcastle)
Peter Wackett (Leeds)

Forwards
Peter Browne (Durham)
Joe Clark (Cambridge)
Kevin Davis (Oxford)
Michael Denbee (Plymouth)
Joe Horn-Smith (Exeter)
Ian Kench (Loughborough)
Aaron Liffchak (Hertfordshire)
James Lumby (Cambridge)
Tom Malaney (Cambridge)
Jonathon Moyce (St Marys College)
Simon Pitfield (Loughborough)
Andries Pretorius (Hartpury College)

ends