By Duncan Wood
January 17 2003

3 Shoguns Academy stars have been named in an England U21 training squad to face their French counterparts in the first U21s 6 Nations match. The squad will train twice ahead of the match on February 14th.

So, congratulations to the three players selected although there will be others who will be disappointed as there were 10 Academy players in the England South U21s squad which played their French counterparts back in October.

Matt Styles made his full debut in the cup setback at home to Rotherham last month and Chris Rowland has featured regularly on the bench without yet getting a chance to get on the pitch.

James Bailey has been in fine try scoring form for the Academy and has maintained his excellent scoring record whenever he has appeared for the United.

The England U21s manager, Peter Drewett, seemed to intimate however that there was still a chance for players to force their way into the squad when he said:

"This is the initial training squad for the Six Nations...There will be some tough decisions to be made next month when the final squad to play in the opening fixture this season will be selected."

The quality of the squad is illustrated however when you see names like Duncombe, Scaysbrook, Bell, Ellis and Winnan who have all made plenty of first team appearances for their respective clubs.

The full squad is as follows:

Forwards - Peter Cook (Leicester), Christian Day (Sale), Alex Gluth (Sale), James Hamilton (Leicester), Michael Holford (Leicester), Andrew Kyriacou (Sale), Magnus Lund (Sale), Lee Morley (Leicester), Geoffrey Parling (Newcastle), Ryan Peacey (Saracens), Jonathan Pendlebury (Bath), Chris Rowland (Bristol), Benjamin Russell (Saracens), James Scaysbrook (Bath), Matthew Stevens (Bath), Matthew Styles (Bristol), Matthew Thompson (Newcastle), Ben Woods (Newcastle).

Backs - James Bailey (Bristol), Chris Bell (Harlequins), Spencer Davey (Bath), Nick Duncombe (Harlequins), Harry Ellis (Leicester), Andrew Frost (Gloucester), Danny Hipkiss (Leicester), John Holtby (Leicester), Chris Hyndman (Northampton), Chris Mayor (Sale), Warren Spragg (Sale), Clive Stuart-Smith (Gloucester), Tim Taylor (Leicester), Adryan Winnan (Saracens).