Following the recent round of inter-regional games in November, England Universities Head Coach Richard Tate has named two 30-man train on squads for the North and South teams who will contest the 6th Annual University Rugby League Origin Game.
The clash will take place on Sunday 6th February, 3pm kick off at Loughborough University.
The Origin game was instituted in 2016 and has been played annually to determine the final selection for the England Universities squad and is always fiercely contested, despite the North having won all five previous encounters.
Owing to the global pandemic, the Origin game did not take place in 2021 and Tate is very much looking forward to its return.
"The pandemic has meant that players have missed out on the representative programme, so it's great to be back," he commented.
"Myself and the rest of the staff have been itching to get back at it since we had to the England programme on hold in early 2020 and the players have told me that they missed not being able to play at University and have missed out on the opportunity to perform in the representative programme and be part of all the heritage that the England Universities programme has. It's good to be back!"
The North squad is selected from players who played for the North East, Yorkshire and North West teams in the regional games, with the South coming from players at University in the Midlands, South East and South West.
Both squads will be reduced to 20 ahead of the game with a final squad of 26 being selected for the England programme which commences in March. 27 Universities are represented across the squads, demonstrating the truly national appeal of the University game.
North - 30-Man Train-on Squad:
- Adam Lavin (Lancaster / North West)
- A-J Towse (York St John / North East)
- Alex Eckley (Liverpool John Moores / North West)
- Alex Fitzhenry (Edge Hill / North West)
- Ben Bradshaw (Hull / Yorkshire)
- Ben Gray (Sheffield Hallam / Yorkshire)
- Brad Calland (Edge Hill / North West)
- Cameron Brown (Liverpool John Moores / North West)
- Elliott Jones (Hull / Yorkshire)
- Harry Trulson (Hull FC Sports College / Yorkshire)
- Isaac Coleman (York / North East)
- Jack Earl (York / North East)
- Jack Quinn (Northumbria / North East)
- Jake Lightowler (Northumbria / North East)
- Jed Charlton (Northumbria / North East)
- Joe Riley (Leeds / Yorkshire)
- Jordan Bull (Leeds Beckett / Yorkshire)
- Joseph Heaton (Edge Hill / North West)
- Kellen Wood (Liverpool John Moores / North West)
- Leon Stewart (Hull / Yorkshire)
- Matty Rudd (Manchester Metropolitan / North West)
- Max Flanagan (Newcastle / North East)
- Nathan Newbound (Northumbria / North East)
- Nathan Simpson (Leeds Beckett / Yorkshire)
- Nathan Taylor (Liverpool John Moores / North West)
- Ryan Johnson (Hull / Yorkshire)
- Sam Eyres (UCLan / North West)
- Sean Croston (Northumbria / North East)
- Tyler Hepple (Northumbria / North East)
- William Cohen (Leeds Beckett / Yorkshire)
Coaches: Adam Houston & Jack Howieson
Manager: Chris Chatten
South 30-Man Train-on Squad:
- Alex Boag (Exeter / South West)
- Ben Edwards (Loughborough / Midlands)
- Ben Littlewood (Nottingham Trent / Midlands)
- Ben Thewlis (Loughborough / Midlands)
- Benjamin Foskett (Birmingham City / Midlands)
- Bradley Murphy (Loughborough / Midlands)
- Brandon Whitaker (Nottingham Trent / Midlands)
- Charlie McCurrie (Leicester / Midlands)
- Christian Gale (London South Bank / South East)
- David Bofenda (The Open University / South East)
- Delaine Bedward-Gittens (Coventry / Midlands)
- Ed Brown (Bedford / South East)
- George Orriss (Gloucestershire / South West)
- Henry Symons (Gloucestershire / South West)
- Jack Cherry (Nottingham / Midlands)
- James Amachree (Nottingham / Midlands)
- Joe Hunter (Nottingham Trent / Midlands)
- Josh Stuttle (St Mary’s / South East)
- Julius Banks (Gloucestershire / South West)
- Lewis Flack (Loughborough / Midlands)
- Louis Chapman (St Mary’s / South East)
- Luciano Bejanidze (St Mary’s / South East)
- Michael Holden (Gloucestershire / South West)
- Noah Lancelott (Keele / Midlands)
- Owen Priest (Gloucestershire / South West)
- Sam Hughes (Oxford Brookes / South East)
- Teddy Davidson (Loughborough / Midlands)
- Thomas Ducker (Exeter / South West)
- Tom Mitchell (Loughborough / Midlands)
- William Budd (St Mary’s / South East)
Coaches: Mark Sloan & Ben Whincup
Manager: Ryan Cousins
