England Under-18s will be without hooker Arthur Ellis and flanker Will Welch when they play Scotland in a friendly international at Melrose on Sunday March 2 (12 noon).
Both have been released to play for their schools in important Daily Mail Schools Cup matches on Saturday. Ellis will be on duty for St Benedict's School, Ealing in the semi-finals against Barnard Castle School at Broadstreet RFC near Coventry and Welch will be playing for RGS Newcastle in their rearranged quarter-final at Wellington College.
England have called up Robert Beddard (Burton, Hartpury College and Staffordshire) to deputise for Ellis in the non-cap international but they have yet to decide whether to summon a replacement for Welch.
England hope to give game time to most of their 25-strong squad against the Scotland side that will compete in the Six Nations Championship next month. This will be England's final game before they fly to Italy to compete in the AER (Association of European Rugby) Tournament in Treviso where their first game is against Georgia on March 16.
England drew with Scotland 12 months ago and lead coach Graham Whitmore will be looking for an improved defensive display from his players after a tough training match against a powerful Northampton Academy side at Solihull School last weekend.
"We were blown out of the water in the first 20 minutes by the pace of the game," he said. "It was considerably faster than they were used to and I think it made them realise that there is a big step up from school rugby to the higher level and an even bigger step up to international level which can be very fast and frenetic.
"There were a few shocked faces in our side after that first 20 minutes against Northampton but it was an ideal challenge for us.
"It will ensure that their feet are kept firmly on the ground and they now understand that just pulling on a shirt with an English rose on it does not mean that they are guaranteed to get a result.
"We ended up losing by eight tries to four against Northampton so we did show character in coming back from conceding three tries in that first 20 minutes.
"We have a combative pack and some pace out wide. What we will be looking for against Scotland is an improvement in our defence and that they are adapting to the defensive shape that we are trying to put in place.
"It was a bit of shock to the system but we hope that in the long term it could turn out to be a positive thing for us."
England expect lock Dan Wright and centre Will East, who took minor knocks against Northampton, will be fit to face Scotland.
England Under-18 AER Tournament squad:
Backs: Mark Atkinson (St Ambrose College, Sale Sharks and Cheshire), Ross Chisholm (Brighton College, Harlequins and Sussex), Jordan Davies (Denstone College, Eccles and Lancashire), Will East (St Paul’s School, Barnes, London Wasps and Middlesex), Joe Ford (Rishworth School and Yorkshire), Nico Fraser (Haileybury College, Saracens and Essex), Reuben Haile (St Peter’s Sixth Form Centre, Gloucester and Gloucestershire), Craig Hampson (Harrogate College, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire), Jon Kennedy (Sale Sharks and Cheshire), Matt Keyte (Dulwich College, Harlequins and Surrey), Henry Staff (Bedford Modern School , Saracens and East Midlands), Marcus Watson (St George’s College, London Irish and Surrey).
Forwards: Peter Austin (Worthing College, Havant and Hampshire), Robert Beddard (Hartpury College, Burton and Staffordshire), Matt Everard (Queen Elizabeth II School, Leicester Tigers and Leicestershire), Aaron Hall (Berwick HS, Newcastle Falcons and Northumberland), Rhys Jones (Corsham School, Corsham and Dorset & Wiltshire), Shaun Knight (St Peter’s Sixth Form Centre, Gloucester and Gloucestershire), Kane Palma-Newport (Beechen Cliff School, Bath and Somerset), Jake Parker (Millfield School, South West Regional Academy and Cornwall), Joe Quinn (St Wilfred’s School, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire), Ollie Stedman (Kings School, Tynemouth, Percy Park and Northumberland), Jimmy Stevens (Truro College, SWERA and Cornwall), Yann Thomas (Weston-super-Mare and Somerset), Daniel Wright (St Peter’s Sixth Form Centre, Gloucester and Gloucestershire). |
