South West University Rugby League – Trial Dates announced
The Rugby Football League has announced the trial date for the South West Universities representative side which will take place this coming Saturday 31st October, 1pm-3pm at SGS College, Gloucester Road, Filton, Bristol, South Gloucestershire BS34 7AF.
The South West representative side provides a pathway for students to progress to an origin fixture where the best of the South will take on the North of England, from this fixture the England squad will be selected. The South West will play the South East on Saturday 12th December 2015 which is scheduled for Maidenhead. The management team will select a squad of 20 from the trial and will schedule a number of training sessions in between Saturday and the fixture for all players from different universities to gel.
The Rugby Football League have recruited a strong management team. The Team Manager for the representative side is Chris Chatten current Bath & Wiltshire Romans RLFC Manager and last season was also University of Gloucestershire All Gold’s Match Day Manager for their professional side which finished highest of the southern clubs in Championship 1. T
he Bath & Wiltshire Romans RLFC in their debut and founding season finished top of the West of England League, won the West of England Grand Final, won the inaugural West of England Challenge Cup and finalists in the inaugural West of England 9’s. The club also got through to the semi-final of the Harry Jepson Trophy (National Competition) and went down to eventual winners South West London Chargers.
Head Coach of the side is Dan Poulton who is currently coaching the University of Gloucestershire team and will be assisted by Alex Ford who is currently coaching University of Exeter. Last season Dan was playing with Coventry Bears in Championship 1 and went on loan to the University of Gloucestershire All Golds and only on Monday it was announced that he had signed for the All Golds for 2016. Halfback Poulton has been heavily involved in growing rugby league in the midlands in his role as rugby league academy manager at Moreton School in Wolverhampton after graduating from the University of Gloucestershire where he was part of the BUCS Super 8s team.
Registrations for the trial have come from University of Gloucestershire, University of Bath, University of Exeter, SGS Bristol and University of Cardiff. There will be some strong competition for the hooking position with West of England rivals Jack Uren (Bristol Sonics) and Tom Plance (Bath & Wiltshire Romans RLFC) going head to head. Newcomer to rugby league Huw Parks (Bath & Wiltshire Romans RLFC) will also be in contention for a pivot position and is currently on trial with University of Gloucestershire All Golds.
Adam Hughes, Higher Education Manager, Rugby Football League, said “it is a great opportunity for students in the region to showcase their talent on a wider stage and progress through the performance pathway”.
In order to qualify for the trial students must currently attend university in the South West and Wales. All interested parties should contact Team Manager, Chris Chatten in advance to register an interest for the trial via email: chatten26@hotmail.com