England Counties in buoyant mood for Romania A challenge
ENGLAND Counties give full debuts to five new caps as they look to finish their summer tour on a high against Romania A at the Stadionul National “Arcul de Triumf” tomorrow (5pm BST).
Prop Matthew Beesley of Cheshire gets a first start along with scrum-half Matthew Shepherd, who helped Cornwall to victory in the Bill Beaumont Cup at the end of last month. Hertfordshire duo Sam Winter (outside centre) and Henry Robinson (full-back) as well as Gloucestershire wing Leo Fielding are also given a chance.
The quintet all impressed in the 28-16 over club side CSM Bucuresti on Friday (a fixture for which caps were not available) and will now look to shine again against a Romania A side which is set to boast the cream of the country’s U23 talent along with some of its senior squad.
Team manager Matt Long said: “It should be a good test for us and we are expecting a strong Romanian squad which is likely to be strengthened from the original U23s fixture that was planned.
“We are expecting a very physical and confrontational game but we are more than prepared for that and looking forward to it.
“The England squad has come together well over an intense week of training and the initial game against CSM Bucuresti on Friday has helped us a great deal. We are ready and looking forward to it.”
As well as the five new caps, there are also special awards for Yorkshire open-side flanker Evan Stewart and Gloucestershire wing Nevaro Codlin, who will be presented with caps for reaching their third appearances for the England Counties XV.
Gloucestershire are the most heavily represented county in the 23-man squad for the big match, with five players on display. There will be four Hertfordshire men and three from Yorkshire, while champion county Cornwall are represented by two.
Full England Counties line-up v Romania A:
1. Matthew Beesley (Wharefdale/Cheshire)
2. Brett McNamee (Old Albanians/Hertfordshire)
3. Stephen Johnson (Hull Ionians/Yorkshire)
4. Christopher Wearmouth (Blaydon/Durham)
5. Ben Hilton (Launceston/Cornwall)
6. Keith Laughlin (capt, Blaydon/Northumberland)
7. Evan Stewart (Fylde/Yorkshire)
8. Gavin Jones (Blaydon/Yorkshire).
9. Matthew Shepherd (Launceston/Cornwall)
10. Mike Wilcox (Cinderford/Gloucestershire)
11. Nevaro Codlin (Coney Hill/Gloucestershire)
12. Sebastian Rodwell (London Irish Wild Geese/Gloucestershire)
13. Sam Winter (Bishop’s Stortford/Hertfordshire)
14. Leo Fielding (Cinderford/Gloucestershire)
15. Henry Robinson (Darlington Mowden Park/Hertfordshire).
Replacements:
16. Samuel Wilkes (Cinderford/Gloucestershire)
17. Andrew Berry (Old Albanians/Hertfordshire)
18. David Laverick (Hull Ionians/Yorkshire)
19. George Oram (Blackheath/Kent)
20. Harry Bate (Blaydon/Northumberland)
21. Alex Gallagher (Blackheath/Kent)
22. Albert Portsmouth (Cambridge/Eastern Counties)
23. William Crow (Dorking/Surrey).
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