England U18s 5Natios Festival team named for Ireland 18/4/09
England U18s George Ford
By Kath 17/4/09
April 17 2009
The England Under 18s team to compete in the final Five Nations Festival fixture in Parma, Italy against Ireland Saturday 18th April 2009.
England U18s v Ireland
The England Under 18s team to compete in the final Five Nations Festival fixture in Parma, Italy against Ireland Saturday 18th April 2009.England head into the match on the back of two victories against Italy and Scotland in Parma, while their rivals have also picked up wins against Wales and Italy. England have also defeated Japan High Schools and Scotland convincingly on home turf this season.
England U18s - George Ford
Coach John Fletcher has again made a handful of changes to the starting line-up with eight players who started on the bench against Scotland getting the nod to start tomorrow.
Fletcher said: "This is going to be a tough test. Ireland come into the game with two good wins against Italy and Wales under their belts. They play a good brand of rugby, they like to move the ball around like us and they have some very good players.
"This has been a tough week of rugby with three games in six days and we have a few waking wounded, but I know that if we play to our best on Saturday then we can win this game. We just need to make sure we do that."
England U18s
15 Jack Wallace London Wasps RGS High Wycombe
14 Marcus Watson London Irish St Georges College
13 Jonathan Joseph London Irish Millfield School
12 Owen Farrell Saracens St Georges School
11 Christian Wade London Wasps RGS High Wycombe
10 George Ford Leicester Tigers Rishworth School
9 Ryan Glynn Sale Sharks Sedbergh School
1 Mako Vunipola Bristol Rugby Millfield School
2 Harry Allen Saracens Chsitlehurst&Sidcup Grammar
3 Ryan Bower Leicester Tigers John Cleveland College
4 Sam Twomey Harlequins Dulwich College
5 Charlie Matthews Harlequins Hurstpierpoint College
6 Sam Jones London Wasps Aylesbury Grammar
7 Matt Everard Leicester Tigers Wyggeston&QueenElizabeth
8 Alex Gray Captain Newcastle Falcons Barnard Castle School
Replacements:
16 Rob Buchanan Harlequins St Bedes School
17 Peter Austin London Irish St Paul's Catholic College
18 Henry Thomas Bristol Rugby Millfield School
19 Joe Trayfoot Harlequins Epsom College
20 Billy Vunipola Bristol Rugby Castle School
21 Ben Glynn Bristol Rugby Filton College
22 Sam Stuart Harlequins Sedbergh School
23 Jake Sharp Saracens Oaklands College
24 Sam Edgerley London Irish Wellington College
25 Andy Short Worcester Warriors Worcester 6th Form College
26 Jamie Elliott Northampton Saints Bedford School
England U18s Five Nations Festival Playing Schedule
March 22nd, Kingston Park, England v Scotland, WON 63-0
March 29th, Sandy Park, England v Japan High Schools, WON 71-7
April 12th, England v Italy, Stadio L.Zaffanella, WON 61-3
April 15th, England v Scotland Stadio L.Zaffanella, WON 75-0
April 18th, England v Ireland, 3pm BST, Stadio G. Maini
April 26th, England v Wales, 2pm, Ebbw Vale RFC
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Ben Glynn hasn't, so I guess he's ill/injured.
The two undefeated sides going into the final game, so should be an interesting one.
According to the Planet Rugby forum the pitch is playable & Ireland U18 are playing a game against a local U19 team on it.
Apparently the game won't be replayed.
The integrity of the U18 Five Nations was in tatters yesterday when England refused to play Ireland on the grounds of the poor condition of the surface of the pitch at Colorno, a picturesque town 10 miles north of Parma.
"From our point of view, we are extremely disappointed, given all the efforts of the Italians and the agreement the pitch was playable by Ireland and the referee (Chris Williams), that England were unable to participate in the match," said John Davies, the Six Nations director of operation.
"It may have repercussions at Six Nations level where it will be discussed at council meeting in May."
This has left parents and supporters from both countries, Ireland and England, out of pocket to a considerable extent because of the incomprehensible decision of the English management.
An issue emerged on Friday over the state of the pitch. The England management was concerned about the number of small stones lying on the surface. In their eyes, the safety of players was at risk.
The English did offer to play the game on the adjacent artificial pitch. The Irish were not inclined to take this up as their players had not played on what was a foreign surface to them.
A Mexican stand-off, of sorts, ensued. Soon, it became a moot point when it emerged that Colorno Rugby had not received an International Rugby Board certificate to verify that it had satisfied all the conditions necessary to ensure the players' safety.
It meant that the grass pitch became the only option. A group of young children took to the playing surface not once, but twice, to clear the stones to the satisfaction of the English management.
All four tournament referees, including an Englishman, agreed the pitch was playable on Friday afternoon. The Irish management was keen to play on a pitch no worse than Donnybrook at the end of a season.
This was not good enough for England. It was slightly reminiscent of the 'A' international this season when England refused to play because of the state of the 'frozen' pitch at Donnybrook.
The good people of Colorno had gone to a lot of trouble to prepare for a big day. The pitch had been cleared of the stones, cleared to play by all four referees and clearly good enough for the Irish. This was not good enough for England.
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