BackSun 27 Apr 2025
Old Verulamians RFC
Under 15s
11:00
U15's GET THE CALL FROM MARO ITOJE
Stephen Corcoran29 Jun - 13:50
EIRFC Boys Broaden Their Rugby Horizons With Selection to Saracens Pathway
A slightly belated congratulations to our Under 15's quartet of Cian, David, Donal and Hayden, who were selected to represent the 'Maro Itoje' (North London) division of the Saracens Player Development Group. The SPDG programme is intended to identify and nurture talented rugby players aged 15-18 with potential to become future Saracens players. The boys were originally selected to be part of the 40--strong squad for the London & South Central Rugby Academy (formerly the London Irish Academy) at under 14 level, but when L&SC sadly closed in April last year, the boys were offered a trial with Saracens in the Autumn.
Since then, and in addition to playing a full part in our U15's push for promotion, they have been attending weekly coaching sessions at Harrow school led by Saracens Academy coaches, and they have been participating in a combination of festival days at venues including the StoneX Stadium, where they played a shortened form of the game, as well as one-off full length fixtures against the other teams in the SPDG from Kent('Ben Earl'), Hertfordshire('Jamie George') and Essex("Jackson Wray') and with no conversion attempts after tries, it made for some fairly fast and furious rugby.
Although Hayden's PDG season was sadly cut short by a fractured shoulder blade sustained in the match against Kent at Old Dartfordians, from the games seen by Coach Steve Corcoran, all four of the EIRFC boys made their mark which is to be applauded given they are mixing it with the best in the county, many of whom enjoy a full midweek rugby programme at schools such as Harrow and Mill Hill in addition to their club rugby, whereas our boys' only significant exposure to rugby has been through Enfield Ignatians.
Whilst the EIRFC U15's have been running fitness and skills sessions since the start of June in preparation for their move to Division 3 of the Herts Middlesex U16 League in September, the SPDG boys have all been given strength and conditioning programmes to follow ahead of training sessions and a festival at the StoneX in August in preparation for what will undoubtedly be an even busier schedule at U16 level - nobody said it was going to be easy!
Well done boys!
Since then, and in addition to playing a full part in our U15's push for promotion, they have been attending weekly coaching sessions at Harrow school led by Saracens Academy coaches, and they have been participating in a combination of festival days at venues including the StoneX Stadium, where they played a shortened form of the game, as well as one-off full length fixtures against the other teams in the SPDG from Kent('Ben Earl'), Hertfordshire('Jamie George') and Essex("Jackson Wray') and with no conversion attempts after tries, it made for some fairly fast and furious rugby.
Although Hayden's PDG season was sadly cut short by a fractured shoulder blade sustained in the match against Kent at Old Dartfordians, from the games seen by Coach Steve Corcoran, all four of the EIRFC boys made their mark which is to be applauded given they are mixing it with the best in the county, many of whom enjoy a full midweek rugby programme at schools such as Harrow and Mill Hill in addition to their club rugby, whereas our boys' only significant exposure to rugby has been through Enfield Ignatians.
Whilst the EIRFC U15's have been running fitness and skills sessions since the start of June in preparation for their move to Division 3 of the Herts Middlesex U16 League in September, the SPDG boys have all been given strength and conditioning programmes to follow ahead of training sessions and a festival at the StoneX in August in preparation for what will undoubtedly be an even busier schedule at U16 level - nobody said it was going to be easy!
Well done boys!
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