Southern Regions set to face off in Oxford

• West of England returns to competition after two years away
• Midlands and London aim to take title last won by East of England
• Carnival doubles as selection trial for South of England Men’s Team

Community players from across the South of England will head to Oxford RFC this Sunday (27th September) for the latest annual Southern Regional Carnival – a day-long tournament between sides representing the East, West, London and the Midlands.

Via a series of time-limited 13-a-side games, these four regions will battle to take home the title of Southern Regional champion. Players will be looking to catch the eye of the South of England Men’s Team selectors ahead of the representative side’s autumn fixtures against Australia & New Zealand Exiles, Scotland Bravehearts and Wales ‘A’. As it has been in previous seasons, selection will be based on performances at the carnival.

The Southern Men’s Carnival was launched late last decade to act as an annual celebration of Men’s Rugby League outside of the North of England, with volunteer management teams working with local community clubs to select players to represent their regions. It’s part of an effort from those within the wider Southern region to create a performance pathway for community players outside of the North of England, as well as reward players and hard-working volunteers for their efforts over the domestic summer season.

For the 2026 competition, regional management teams have looked across the community game, selecting players from dozens of community clubs throughout the southern half of England.

Notably, the tournament also marks a return to action from the West of England, a region which skipped the 2024 and 2025 editions of the Southern Regional Carnival due to player availability issues. Now helmed by head coach Jay Woodley (All Golds), the West squad boasts selections not only from leading community clubs in the region (All Golds, Swindon, Cornish Rebels), but also teams lower down the pyramid (Melksham, Bath RLFC Old Boys) and from within the student game.

Woodley said: “I’m proud to be involved with the programme and to play a part in getting the West’s representative side up and running again. The selected players provide a good representation of grassroots Rugby League in the region, with talented young players being mentored by older, more experienced heads. It’s great to show these players that there is a performance pathway and with good performances, South of England honours could be within their grasp.

“We’re really looking forward to testing ourselves against the best that the other Southern regions have to offer, before the best test themselves again Scotland, Wales and the Australia & New Zealand exiles as part of the South of England Men’s Team.”

Also aiming to perform strongly will be the East of England, who won the 2025 event on ‘home territory’ at Old Brentwoods RFC in Essex. Now coached by Gareth Barron, the East will be desperate to retain their title – a rare event in the evolving history of the Southern Regional Carnival. Since 2023, no region has managed to win back-to-back titles.East of England coach Gareth Barron said: “it’s a massive honour to lead the East squad in 2026. We’re coming into this year as the title holders after our success in 2025, so the expectation is clear – we want to compete, work hard and defend what we earned last year.

“There’s plenty of talent across the East and it has been a pleasure to work with such a motivated and talented squad. In the time we have been together, I’ve been taken aback by the skill levels, knowledge and understanding of the group. We know everyone will want to knock us off the top and we’re ready for that challenge."

The Midlands have announced a strong training squad ahead of the tournament, which the region last one at Pennine Way, home of Hemel Stags, in 2024. The squad selected by head coach Dan Robinson includes representatives of no less than nine different community clubs from the region. It also contains Coventry’s Harry Kaufman, whose two late tries helped secure the tournament title in 2024.

Robinson said: “After another successful year of Midlands Rugby, it has been great to see a top buy-in from players and clubs to the rep programme for this year. We have had 36 players invited to trial across three sessions, all of whom have been a credit to their clubs and region. Narrowing down the squad to 20 for the festival will be no easy task. We expect our Midlands side to make a big impact at this year’s Southern Regions Festival.”

Also aiming to take home the trophy is London, serial finalists and strong contenders who last won the title in 2023. Head coach Glenn Osborn has chosen to select players from each of the seven community clubs within London and its outer perimeter, suggesting that once more they will be the team to beat in Oxford.

Head coach Glenn Osborn said: “We’re really excited about the group we’ve selected. We have a strong London squad with a great blend of talent, experience and potential, supported by an excellent coaching team who are all committed to helping these players perform at their best.

“The next step is getting everyone together, creating the right environment, and giving the players the opportunity to showcase their skills, play with confidence and represent the London region with pride. There’s a real sense of excitement around this group, and we’re looking forward to seeing what they can achieve together.”

The Southern Men’s Regional Carnival takes place on Sunday 27th September at Oxford RFC, North Hinksey, with the first games kicking off at 1pm. It promises to be another memorable occasion, with players and volunteers from across the community game in the South of England celebrating the game while renewing regional rivalries. Entrance is free for spectators.

Southern Men’s Regional Carnival – Training Squads

London

Jon Armour (London Chargers), Will Armour (London Chargers), Matty Ashcroft (Brixton Bulls), Leighton Ball (West Warriors), Alex Baptiste-Wilson (Elmbridge Eagles), Ollie Baptiste-Wilson (Elmbridge Eagles), Sean Belbin (Elmbridge Eagles), Leon Bird (Hammersmith Hoists), Doug Chirnside (London Chargers), Jake Cummins (Elmbridge Eagles), Adam Dady (Medway Dragons), Luke Drummond (Elmbridge Eagles), Michael Kasa (Brixton Bulls), Sonny Kelly (Elmbridge Eagles), Jason Lee (West Warriors), Tyler Long (Hemel Stags), Matt Massett (Medway Dragons), Ben McGuinness (Brixton Bulls), James Morrison (West Warriors), Mason O’Neil (Medway Dragons), Ugo Onyeji (Brixton Bulls), Dom Stock (West Warriors), Ben Telfer (Brixton Bulls), Paddy Tennant (Elmbridge Eagles), Charlie Whittington (London Chargers).

Midlands

Chev Taylor, Dan Horne, Chebueze Ogbonna, Josh Ewhubare, Mike Holmes, Curtis Green (all Birmingham Bulldogs); Oz Kirwen, Jimmy Lambert, Harry Kaufman (all Coventry Bears); Kyle Jones, Billy Calder (both Leamington Royals); Ollie JHinton (North East Worcestershire Ravens); Uchenna Okereke, Coryn Ward, Josh Rogerson, Jacob Rigby (all Nottingham Outlaws); Luke Whitby, Christopher Sykes (both Peterborough); Jack Jonson, Finlay Holt (both Sherwood Wolfhunt); Mike Goode (Staffordshire Quantums); Ben Foskett, Andy Prosser, Dylan Stone, Oscar Stone, Adam Talbot, Denham Samuels (all Telford Raiders)

East 

Callum Dockerill (Bedford Tigers), David Bofenda (North Herts Crusaders), David Slater (North Hearts Crusaders), Brendon Swindells (Bedford Tigers), Marquis Daly-Vidal (Bedford Tigers), Alex Deery (North Herts Crusaders), Eddie Atherton (North Herts Crusaders), Max Nissinen-Le (Bedford Tigers), Matthew Toothill (Brentwood Eels/Eastern Rhinos), Luke De Normanville (North Herts Crusaders), Liam Schofield (Bedford Tigers), Jordan Bonfield (North Herts Crusaders), Joe Allison (Bedford Tigers), Luca Edmondson (North Herts Crusaders), Will Fairhead (North Herts Crusaders), Jordan Marshall (Bedford Tigers).

West

Leon Atherton (All Golds), Alife Bowers (Swindon St George), Luke Davies (All Golds), Rob Davies (All Golds), Sam Gilder (All Golds), Will Greenside (Melksham), Jake Hamilton (Swindon St George), Keiron Jackson (All Golds), Henry May (Bath RL Old Boys), Connor Massey (All Golds), Alex Onyeahasi (All Golds), Vitali Stadnyk (University of Gloucester), Darryl Thompson (Bath RL Old Boys), Connor Clint (Swindon St George), Decarlo Trevise (Cornish Rebels), Adam Turner (All Golds), Chris Vickers (British Army), Lewis Wilkinson (University of Gloucester), Dan Brooker (Somerset Vikings)