This week we proudly waved three Upper Sixth Formers off to join the U18 rugby squads for their respective countries.
Aiden Ainsworth-Cave and Jonny Weimann have been named in the England Under 18 squad for this Saturday’s game against France. Their international call-up follows the boys’ selection to train with the England U18 Development Camp this winter.
Aiden, who recently recovered from a long-term injury, spoke to us about his selection and said, “It’s an honour to be selected to play for my country – it’s something that every athlete dreams of and to be selected after a long injury is even more gratifying. I am looking forward to playing in such a high-performance environment. I met some of the players at the England camp and to be able to put all that hard work into action against France, a top-quality team, is really exciting.” 
Jonny, who is equally as excited, explained, “I am looking forward to getting my first cap and wearing the rose. I have wanted to play for England no matter what age group so to be able to do it now is a dream come true.”
The match will take place at 17.00 on Saturday 9 March at the Rugby Tango Chalonnais and will be live-streamed on YouTube.
Meanwhile, Upper Sixth Former Freddie Drake-Lee was over the moon to be named by Head Coach Ross Miller in the Scotland U18 camp with a reduced squad. The final selection will take place after this weekend for the first Scotland international next weekend.
Freddie was also recently selected to play for the Lambs Rugby Club and has been enjoying the game from a different perspective.
Freddie explained, “I loved the freedom that the coaches gave us to try anything and play from everywhere, similar to the 1st XV at school. I feel like this suits how I want to play, fast and running from everywhere on the pitch.”