Fletcher pays tribute to English academy system

Posted on Apr 12, 2012 in England, England U18, English Rugby

England Under 18 Head Coach John Fletcher feels that England are privileged to have such a structured and well-managed academy system that is producing young players brimming with potential.

On the back of England ‘s victory in the FIRA/AER European Championship last Saturday you would forgive Fletcher for taking a breather, but his focus now switches to finding the future starlets.

“There’s loads going on now,” he said. “We’ve got Under 15 clinics, Under 16 camps, Under 17 matches and so on – the work now starts for next year and to see who’s coming through the regional academies.

“We are very fortunate to have such a good academy system. There are 14 fantastic academies, and all of the systems that feed them – the clubs, schools and counties – do a great job.

“The regional academies add huge value to our game and year on year the quality of the person, and the player, coming through is great and it makes our job a lot easier.

England U18 clinched the Justin Bridou trophy last Saturday, beating Ireland 25-13 in the final in Madrid, and Fletcher is quick to praise the team mentality within the group.

“From a team point of view all 26 players have contributed, “ he said. “The guys who have had less involvement are the guys that are younger, so they will get their chance next year.

“But this was very much a team effort, they work extremely hard, they train very well and you know that they are a hard team to beat.

"We head to South Africa in August and our aim is to go out there and play as well as well can and to crank it up from where we are now – but it will be tough out there. We’ll come up against Wales, France and of course South Africa in their own back yard but it is a brilliant opportunity for the guys."

Fletcher names provisional England U18 squad

Posted on Oct 21, 2011 in Age Grade Rugby, England, English Rugby

England U18 have announced their provisional squad for the 2011/12 season, with just Zach Kibirige, Tom Stephenson and Tony Watson remaining from head coach John Fletcher ‘s 2010/11 set-up.

Under the stewardship of  Fletcher, England U18  have enjoyed several years of success, with 24 wins in their last 27 internationals, including their most recent triumph – a 46-19 win against Australia last August.

Twelve of last year’s squad, including promising Exeter quartet Luke Cowan-Dickie, Sam Hill, Henry Slade and Jack Nowell, have all graduated to the Under 20 EPS side.

Of the current crop, Gloucester’s Billy Burns has Premiership pedigree as the younger brother of Cherry and Whites fly half, and former England U18 man, Freddie. While London Irish wing Tony Watson has already made his Aviva Premiership debut, coming on as a 70th minute substitute for Topsy Ojo in Irish’s 46-29 win against Newcastle Falcons on September 24.

Watson has also been nominated by the RFU for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year, but the 17-year-old back remains unfazed and insists that he’s taking it each game as it comes.

“I’m enjoying my rugby at the moment,” explained Watson. “I’m really excited about the forthcoming season with the U18 squad, we had a lot of success last year, but hopefully we can really push on with the new group.

“John Fletcher and Peter Walton are both exceptional coaches and have helped my development immensely, I’m looking forward to working with them again and improving myself as a player.”

Fletcher added: “We’ve got a lot of new players coming in this season, so we’ll be looking to the likes of Tony, who have played at this level, to lead by example. We feel that the U18 programme complements and adds value to the outstanding work that is going on in the schools, colleges and academies.

“England have some excellent players coming through the system and the future is bright, it is not just the percentage of wins but the style of rugby that we play that is most pleasing. The age group is crucial not just for their rugby development but as important, developing them as good people with good values and behaviours.

England U18 provisional squad 2011/12

Name (School & Club)

Forwards

Jake Armstrong (Woodhouse Grove & Leeds Carnegie)
Josh Buggea (Hartpury College & Worcester Warriors)
Joel Conlon (Ivybridge Community College & Exeter Chiefs)
Tom Ellis (Millfield & Bath Rugby)
Danny Hobbs (Moulton College & Northampton Saints)
David Hughes (Twyford C& E High School & London Wasps)
Maro Itoje (Harrow School & Saracens)
Sam James (Bishops Storford & Saracens)
Gus Jones (Eton College & London Wasps)
Jonny Kenny (Kings Macclesfield & Sale Sharks)
Alex Lundberg (Hampton & London Wasps)
Max Northcote-Green (Millfied & Bath Rugby)
Beno Obano (Dulwich College & London Wasps)
Steven Uren (Filton College & Bristol Rugby)
Scott Wilson (Sedbergh School & Newcastle Falcons)

Backs

Callum Braley (Hartpury College & Bristol Rugby)
Billy Burns (Hartpury College & Gloucester Rugby)
Nick Carpenter (Filton College & Bristol Rugby)
Tom Chapman (Colfe’s School & Saracens)
Oliver Cicognini (Ermysteads Grammar School & Leeds Carnegie)
Oliver Claxton (Adams Grammar School & Worcester Warriors)
Tom Collins (Moulton College & Northampton Saints)
Zach Kibirige (Yarm School & Newcastle Falcons)
Charlie Kingsman (Kings Canterbury School & Saracens)
Sam Olver (Oundle School & Northampton Saints)
Javiah Pohe (Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth 1st & Leicester Tigers)
Tom Stephenson (Moulton College & Northampton Saints)
Josh Watkins (Bromsgrove School & Worcester Warriors)
Tony Watson (St Georges College & London Irish)

England U18 side to face ARU Academy U19

Posted on Aug 22, 2011 in Age Grade Rugby, England, English Rugby

England Under 18 Head Coach John Fletcher has named his side to face an Australia Invitational U19 team at Sydney Grammar School, on Sunday, August 21, kick off 4am (UK time).

There are six changes to the starting XV from the side who played Ireland in the U18′s last outing back in April, and Fletcher welcomes back promising Exeter Chiefs loosehead Luke Cowan-Dickie into the front row.

Cowan-Dickie is the only player to have represented two age grade sides this season, after coming on as a replacement for England U20 against Italy during the U20 6 Nations – a game England won 74-3.

London Wasps back Will Robinson makes his first appearance in the U18 squad, and starts as a replacement.

The match is the first of three for the English youngsters on their Australian tour, and Fletcher said: "We’re really looking forward to the game – the opposition are one year older than us so it really is a good test.

"Training has gone well and the lads are itching for a game as they have all been involved in pre-season training at their clubs and haven’t played since April."

Starting XV

15 Jack Nowell (Truro College & Exeter Chiefs)
14 Marcus Webber (Manchester Grammar & Leeds Carnegie)
13 Sam Jones (Ivybridge College & Exeter Chiefs)
12 Sam Hill (Ivybridge College & Exeter Chiefs)
11 Jack Arnott (Ivybridge College & Exeter Chiefs)
10 Henry Slade (Plymouth College & Exeter Chiefs)
9 James Lightfoot-Brown (St Paul’s Catholic College & London Irish)
1 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Truro College & Exeter Rugby)
2 Tom Smallbone (Harrow & London Irish)
3 Danny Herriott (Moulton College & Northampton Saints)
4 Tom Price (Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth 1st & Leicester Tigers)
5 Dominic Barrow (Prince Henry’s Grammar & Leeds Carnegie)
6 David Sisi (St Paul’s Catholic College & London Irish)
7 Matt Hankin (Haileybury College & Saracens)
8 Jack Clifford (RGS Guildford & Harlequins)

Replacements

16 Max Crumpton (Oaklands College & Saracens)
17 Kyle Sinckler (Epsom College & Harlequins)
18 George Sandford (St Paul’s Catholic College & London Irish)
19 Tom Jubb (Oaklands College & Saracens)
20 Joe Buckle (Bryanston & Bath Rugby)
21 Alex Day (St Joseph’s College & Northampton Saints)
22 Will Robinson (Twyford College & London Wasps)
23 Tom Stephenson (Moulton College & Northampton Saints)

John Fletcher: That’s some of the best I’ve seen

Posted on Apr 18, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

After witnessing his England U18 side clinch victory with the last play of their FIRA/AER Championship semi-final, Head Coach John Fetcher has said that England played some of the best rugby he’s seen.

London Irish wing Anthony Watson went over the line with seconds left to play to secure a 38-34 win, and Fletcher said:

“For the last 15 minutes we were outstanding, It’s some of the best rugby any Under 18 team that I’ve coached have played. The game could have gone either way, but often when you finish games the strongest you come out on top.

“It was a close one – we cut it quite fine, but you have to play for the full 70-minutes. We started quite brightly, getting an early try, but we were second best for the rest of the half. I was really pleased with the second half effort though, we came out and increased the intensity and moved them around. We though that if we did that we’d create a few gaps, and fortunately that’s what happened.”

England will now face Ireland in the final after the Irish beat hosts France 19-17 in the other semi-final. Fletcher’s side have already played Ireland this season, beating them 29-12 in Dublin in December, but the former Newcastle Falcons Head Coach has said that England can’t take anything for granted:

“It’s irrelevant what has happened in the past," Fletcher said. "Ireland have beaten a strong French side and they’ll be up for the final. At this level it’s about who turns up on the day, the margins between the elite sides in the northern hemisphere are marginal but we’re confident that we can produce.”

England future stars named by Fletcher

Posted on Sep 9, 2010 in English Rugby, U18

England Under 18 head coach John Fletcher has started work with the next generation of the game’s international stars.

Fletcher and assistant Peter Walton have put together a 26-man squad for this season’s England age group programme which kicks off against Ireland in December.

They staged their first training camp at Harrow School this month and assemble again at the National Sports Centre at Bisham Abbey in October before playing Ireland away from home on December 30.

England have won three consecutive Grand Slams and 19 of their last 20 internationals at this level since the summer of 2007, a run ended last month by an agonising 23-17 defeat against South Africa in Port Elizabeth.

And former Newcastle Falcons boss Fletcher will continue to instil the same playing philosophy of attacking with pace and width into his latest crop of teenagers.

“We aspire to play a similar brand of rugby to the last two years, with lots of pace and width and posing as many threats to the opposition as we can in as many areas of the pitch as possible,” Fletcher said.

“The evidence from our summer camps with Under 16 and Under 18 players is that the technical and tactical ability continues to improve and that’s to the credit of the regional academies, clubs and schools who do a better job each year.

“We’re continuing to grow our programme with England too – in areas like prehab work, where we look at educating the players more about their bodies, and some of the psychological work we do – and we continue to evolve what we do technically and tactically.

“Our overall philosophy is to have as many attacking options as we can so that when these young players move on with the Under 20, Saxons and senior England teams, and with their clubs, they have a bigger toolkit to use to go out there and win games.”

England welcome back five players – front row forwards Luke Cowan-Dickie (Truro College & Exeter Chiefs), Nathan Morris (Sedbergh & London Wasps) and Kyle Sinckler (Epsom College & Harlequins), lock Dominic Barrow (Prince Henry’s GS & Leeds Carnegie) and wing Mark Jennings (Myerscough College & Sale Sharks) – who appeared in all of their Six Nations games last season.

Five more took part in July’s three-match tour to South Africa in the shape of lock Tom Jubb (Oaklands College & Saracens), Exeter Chiefs midfield backs Jack Arnott and Sam Hill (both Ivybridge College) and Henry Slade (Plymouth College), and wing/full back Anthony Watson (St George’s College, Weybridge & London Irish).

The RFU’s Head of Elite Player Development Stuart Lancaster paid tribute to the work done throughout the country in schools, in colleges running the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence rugby programme and in the academy system.

Lancaster said: “There is no doubt the quality of players being produced through the academy programme is on the rise and this year’s intake are all great examples of what is being achieved by the educational partnerships that are in place when you look at the balance of players selected from schools and through the AASE programme.

“Everyone is really working hard to maximise the quality of players coming out of the programmes and this group look to have an exciting year ahead of them working with the successful Under 18 management team headed by John Fletcher.”

England Under 18 squad

Forwards
Dominic Barrow (Prince Henry’s GS & Leeds Carnegie)
Jack Clifford (RGS Guildford & Harlequins)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Truro College & Exeter Chiefs)
Matt Hankin (Haileybury College & Saracens)
Danny Herriott (Moulton College & Northampton Saints)
Alec Hepburn (Henley College & London Wasps)
Gus Jones (Eton College & London Wasps)
Tom Jubb (Oaklands College & Saracens)
Nathan Morris (Sedbergh & London Wasps)
Tom Price (Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth I & Leicester Tigers)
George Sandford (St Paul’s Catholic College & London Irish)
Kyle Sinckler (Epsom College & Harlequins)
David Sisi (St Paul’s Catholic College & London Irish)
Tom Smallbone (Harrow & London Irish)
Scott Spurling (Harrow & Saracens)

Backs
Jack Arnott (Ivybridge College & Exeter Chiefs)
Alex Day (St Joseph’s College & Northampton Saints)
Sam Hill (Ivybridge College & Exeter Chiefs)
Will Hooley (The Leys & Northampton Saints)
Mark Jennings (Myerscough College & Sale Sharks)
James Lightfoot-Brown (St Paul’s Catholic College & London Irish)
Jack Nowell (Truro College & Exeter Chiefs)
Henry Slade (Plymouth College & Exeter Chiefs)
Mitchell Tamiau (Twyford CofE HS & London Wasps)
Anthony Watson (St George’s College & London Irish)
Marcus Webber (Manchester GS & Leeds Carnegie)