News from the trials

I've had some feedback from spectators who were at both St Albans and Birmingham yesterday.

First the bad news is that for some reason Randy didn't make the Army game at Old Albanians - at this stage I have no idea why. If anyone hears anything perhaps they could let us all know?

Meanwhile at Birmingham about half a dozen East Region girls were involved in the final England U20 trial, and of these my informant said that he thought that Sasha was (in his opinion) the stand-out player, certainly of the East contingent if not of the forwards as whole. Apparently she scored a try while playing as prop and impressed those watching wth him (who were not selectors) with her speed and mobility. Others, including Hayley, did not (he said) stand out, but did nothing wrong - and selectors will be as interested in support, positioning, and running off the ball as they will in those who actually make the scoresheet (and will also take into account performance in previous trials).

Around 40 players were at Birmingham, and a squad of about 20-30 will now be picked. However, this will include players from last year's squad many of whom were not a Birmingham as they were playing in the Super Fours, so in practice maybe only around a dozen of yesterday's trialists will make it. The final squad will be announced at the end of the month.