The England Counties XV vs France Amateurs

by Tony Simpson - RFU Press Office

While there are three full-time players, the squad also contains a plasterer, Rugby Football Union employees, a personal trainer, an IT recruitment headhunter, policemen, a builders merchant, business managers, a marketeer, a farmer, Rugby Development Officers, students, a fabricator and a sculptor.

Yet behind this varied make-up, there is crucial common denominator that captain James Winterbottom will need to draw on when his team bids for its first win on French soil.

For while this squad is drawn from Level Three and Four of the RFU league pecking order, many of the individuals involved have experienced the intensity of the game at a much higher level.

Flanker Stean Williams was on tour to Australia with an unbeaten England Schools team in Australia that included Messrs Wilkinson, Tindall and Balshaw. He also played in and won an Australian Grand Final in front of 30,000 people with Eastwood at Sydney Football Ground.

Prop Des Brett played in and experienced the build-up and the razzmatazz of the 2001 Varsity Match with Cambridge University; hooker Adam Caves played in the Premiership with Gloucester; hooker Simon Elkinson played in the All Ireland League final in front of a 30,000 crowd at Lansdowne Road; scrum-half Toby Handley played in the Heineken Cup for L’Aquila against Wasps, Stade Francais and Swansea; centre Chris Malherbe has played for the Barbarians; lock Richard Stott has played in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Cup final at Twickenham.

The list of England schools and youth players in the group is long, as is the number of players who have played in County Championship finals at Twickenham with Lancashire and North Midlands.

“Past experience tells us that the French are going to be strong,” says captain Winterbottom. “We know we’ve got a good pack over here, so we’ve got to be really aggressive up front and take them on. We’ve got lots of experience in the team and plenty of players who have been involved in massive games and I want them to bring that experience to the table tomorrow.

“We want to take the game to France up front and use our backs to play an expansive, open game. We know the game is going to be a very intense, challenging affair and that’s where I expect to see that individual experience of the big occasion coming through.

“We know that we carry the hopes and expectations of County rugby folk across the country tomorrow and we won’t let them down. I’m confident that when we are asked to front up to what is sure to be a big test of character and skill, we have what it takes.

“We have plenty of players who have been around the block and can thrive on the big occasion. There is proven talent and character running right through the squad and I know they will be able to handle what France have to throw at us, although no-one is underestimating our opponents. They will want to avenge their defeat at Newbury last time out and will be fully primed.

“It’s Paul Westgate’s last game as coach and there are places on a summer tour up for grabs, so there is every incentive for us to produce a top-class display. I’m sure that experience will be a big factor for us.”

England Counties XV (v France Amateurs at Beaune, Saturday, March 11, 2006, 2pm GMT): Ollie Viney (Preston & Lancashire); Phil Reed (Nuneaton & Warwickshire), Chris Briers (Orrell & Lancashire), Chris Malherbe (Wharfedale & Yorkshire), Hamish Smales (Tynedale & Northumberland); Ollie Thomas (Moseley & North Midlands), Toby Handley (Stourbridge & Durham); Duncan Cormack (Esher & Surrey), Adam Caves (Moseley & North Midlands), Wayne Reed (Launceston & Devon), James Winterbottom (Henley & Middlesex) captain, Richard Stott (Moseley & North Midlands), Mark Evans (Moseley & North Midlands), John Munro (Nuneaton & Warwickshire), James Rodwell (Moseley & North Midlands).

Replacements: Des Brett (Blackheath & Eastern Counties), Simon Elkinson (Esher), Richard Snowball (Darlington & Yorkshire), Stean Williams (Stourbridge & Gloucestershire), Neil Hallett (Esher & Surrey), Simon Brocklehurst (Nuneaton & Kent), Lewis Vinnicombe (Redruth & Cornwall).

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