22 Jun 2023

England Name Student Four Nations Squad

England Universities Head Coach Kevin Deighton has named his 20-man squad for next month’s Student Rugby League Four Nations tournament.

The 20 players have been whittled down from a 26-man squad who recorded a clean sweep in the RFL President’s Cup and put HM Prison Service to the sword in a friendly and have been drawn on players who took part in the University Rugby League Regionals Series in November 2021 and the Origin Game in February 2022, marking an almost 9 month journey to international honours.

13 different Universities are represented in the squad, demonstrating the truly national reach of the student game, with players being drawn from London to Lancaster and Northumbria to Warwick.

Jordan Bull and Charlie McCurrie are named as captain and vice captain, both of whom earned international honours with England in 2022 in Ireland, with Adam Lavin, Christian Gale, Jack Cherry, Joe Riley, Leon Stewart and Matty Rudd also returning for their second Four Nations campaign.

“There have been some very difficult decisions to make” explained Deighton. “We select based on-field performances, but also attitude and aptitude and contribution to the group and the standards from this year’s cohort of players has been exceptional. All of the players have told me how much they have learned and that is important to me and the coaching team, because we also see it as our job to develop and improve everyone who is in the programme in some way.”

England will kick off their campaign on Sunday the 9^th July against Ireland, before meeting Scotland on Wednesday 12^th and Wales on Saturday 15^th, with all games being played at Pontypridd’s Sardis Road Stadium.

“It’s a tough week and we’ve been preparing the group for the rigours of the tournament and I am confident that we will get the best performances from them when we go into camp” added Deighton. “We’ve seen huge improvements from Ireland, Scotland and Wales each time we’ve played them over the last few years and this year will be no exception. It will be a very challenging tournament!”

England Universities 2023 Student Rugby League Four Nations Squad