May 20, 2008
The England Counties XV, the representative flagship of the County and Community game outside the Guinness Premiership, will once again provide genuine national representation on its three-match tour to the USA and Canada from June 2/16, 2008, with 13 counties and 17 clubs represented in the squad of 26 players.
In addition, the player development element of the trip is reflected in the fact that 15 of the group will be involved with the Counties XV for the first time as they tackle two games against USA ‘A’ in New York (June 6/June 9, kick-off 7pm local time) and a Canada Select XV in Chatham (June 13, 6.30pm local time).
With players drawn from Tynedale in the North East and Launceston in the deep South West, the squad underlines how the selectors have cast their net far and wide to give all the players involved in the three-tier County Championship programme a chance to press their claims.
Now new Team Manager Danny Hodgson will be keeping his fingers crossed that the six members of his squad in the two County finals at Twickenham on June 1 – the Bill Beaumont Cup and the County Championship Shield – come through unscathed.
"There is always concern when we have matches so close to departure time and we have contingency plans with lads on stand-by sitting on their suitcases and other players in reserve," says Hodgson: "Obviously we are hoping that all goes well, but there is always a risk. I was very disappointed for Chris Rainbow, who was injured on our tour to Russia last year and then dislocated his shoulder last weekend to rule himself out of this trip.
"From a playing perspective, I’m excited about the make-up of the squad and the way it has been put together. The selection process has been excellent with all the counties having been watched by an England Counties XV selector.
"We’ve had three in-depth selection meetings and we’ve drawn together a very capable and exciting group of players."
England Counties XV Squad to USA/Canada – June 2008
Backs:
Gavin Beasley(Northumberland/Tynedale)
Oliver Brennand (Lancashire/Fylde)
Benjamin Coulbeck (Cheshire/Manchester)
James Doherty (Lancashire/Wharfedale)
Jason Duffy (Lancashire/Waterloo)
Thomas Jarvis (Gloucestershire/Stourbridge)
Matthew Jess (Cornwall/Launceston)
Nathan Jones (Warwickshire/Coventry)
Scott Rawlings (Staffordshire/Manchester)
Richard Wainwright (Yorkshire/Manchester)
Andre Wilson (Cheshire/Manchester)
Oliver Winter (North Midlands/Moseley)
Forwards:
Philip Boulton (Warwickshire/Bedford Blues)
Daniel Collier (Middlesex/London Welsh)
Alex Davidson (North Midlands/Pertemps Bees)
Michael Denbee (Somerset/Plymouth Albion)
Mark Evans (North Midlands/Moseley)
Daniel Hyde (Yorkshire/Otley)
James Kellard (Kent/Blackheath)
Timothy Mathias (Devon/Plymouth)
Sebastian Moss (Lancashire/Manchester)
Matthew Owen (Cheshire/Manchester)
Petrus du Plessis (Lancashire/Sedgley Park)
Christopher Whitehead (Warwickshire/Coventry)
Johnathan Williams (Northumberland/Tynedale)
Liam Wordley (Staffordshire/Henley) |
