At uni or college next year? You could play for Great Britain!

Its not a well publicised fact, but not all national rugby teams are selected by the RFUW.

The England Colleges rugby team has been mentioned on here before. Its the representative team for students at sixth form and FE colleges, and is based on trials that take place every autumn. Unlike the teams organised by the RFUW you do not need to be nominated for these trials - though, on the downside, they have never been well publicised in the past! If you are interested then there is a website (click here). However one problem is that your college does need to be a member of British Colleges Sport, so your best bet might be to start with your college's sport department.

Universities and other HE institutions have a different association - British Universities and Colleges Sport. BUCS enter a Great Britain team in annual World University Championships in a wide variety of sports - including women's rugby sevens, where the championships this year are in Porto in July.

Again RFUW are not involved, so you do not need to be nominated by any region or TDG coach. Its all based on self-nomination, and if you want to be considered for the British team you just fill in this form and go from there. Chances are if you are at uni now its a bit late to get into the 2010 team, but its worth remembering to put yourself forward for 2011 as soon as the next academic year starts (nominations seem to open in October).

British Colleges trial: further information

One question I've had about the the trials for the England and British Colleges team is whether your college needs to be an RFUW member for you to be able to attend the trial. As the question doesn't have a name attached I thought it would be a good idea to reply here so that everyone is clear.

Because the short answer is no. While you should encourage your college to join the RFUW (it probably won't cost them anything), and while RFUW membership is probably necessary for insurance at inter-college fixtures, it is NOT required in order for you to attend the England/GB XV trials.

This is mainly because you are taking part as an individual, so the insurance for the trials day, and any subsequent matches, is a matter for British Colleges Sport - the organiser of the event - not you or your college. Also the English and British Colleges representative teams are not RFUW teams (unlike - say East Region or England U20s) so actually whether or not your are a member of an RFUW registered club or college is irrelevant. 

However I now discover that there are some eligibility requirements that I wasn't aware of earlier - though in practice I cannot see that any of these will be a problem:

• Your college needs to be a member of British Colleges Sport. However, if its a local authority college is almost certainly will be. If in doubt you can check you college's affiliation here.
• I also discover that you actually have to be aged "over 16 and under 19" on the preceding 31st August - so its not quite any age, but its certainly covers all of you - and for both this season and next. In essence therefore its a U19 team.
  
• If you attend more than one college then its a bit complex - but basically the college where your spend the most hours has to enter you.

In short all you need is to get someone at your college to sign that form - and even that may be unnecessary as BCS have contacted us inviting us to put forward names. It is possible that this is an error on their part, but if so they have now made the same error twice - so if you college can't/won't nominate you... we probably can! Just ask.

After that all you need to do is get Wednesday afternoon off college on 3rd December, and make your way to Northampton - and unfortunately over to you on that.

British and English Colleges XV trials: your chance to wear the red rose!

News that the trials for the English and British Colleges teams will take place at Moulton College in Northampton on Wednesday 3rd December between 1 and 4pm. The team is open to anyone (regardless of age) attending a Sixth Form or Further Education College.

I understand that the team is roughly the same standard as a regional team - last year several girls from the Essex county team played for England Colleges against Scotland in Edinburgh - so if you have ever been selected to attend a regional trial you really should give the trials a go.

I am seeking clarification, but appears that you need to be nominated to attend the trials by your college's PE department. They should have been sent nomination forms today. If they have not had the forms then download this form, give it to your head of PE (or someone appropriate) and get them to send it to Vicky Buck (vlb1978@yahoo.co.uk) as soon as possible. Or send it yourself. Or stand over them while they send it.

Then to get there the above map may help. In addition, official directions are: 

• Exit the M1 at Junction 15 and join the A508 North. After 2 miles the A508 becomes the A45. 
  
• At the third intersection leave the A45 by the slip road and join the A43 (signposted Kettering).
  
• Travel for 3 miles, straight across 2 roundabouts and at the third turn left onto Overstone Road (signposted Moulton). 
  
• Continue until you see the Co-op and bear slightly left until you reach a mini-roundabout in front of the Post Office. 
  
• Turn right down Stocks Hill, which leads into Cross Street, which leads into West Street. 
  
• Take the first turning right into Pitsford Road and then first right again into the College.