England Under 20's.

England U20's chance of retaining their RBS Under 20 Six Nations title slipped away last Friday, as they fell to a 11-31 defeat to France. French full-back Djibril Camara scored twice either side of the interval, with hookers Benoit Guyot and Jean Charles Orioli adding to the tally for the visitors.

Quins players George Lowe and Seb Stegmann proved to be key once again and combined to provide the only try of the match for England. Stegmann's best break seeing him easily charge down 50 metres of the pitch, before the ball was recycled and passed out wide to Lowe who skillfully touched down in the corner, for his second try of the tournament, on only his second appearance.

Despite these bright performances, with Newcastle fly-half Rory Clegg also adding points from the boot, collectively England were short on composure, punch up front and finishing power. The French punished England for the many mistakes they made, and gave a lesson in finishing and taking chances, something which has been mentioned as a flaw in England throughout the tournament. The loss sealed their fate, and even if they win against Scotland this weekend, they are unable to retain their title.

Four Harlequins Academy players will feature in the last game of the tournament against Scotland U20's on Friday. Joe Marler makes his first start for the side this year, after returning from injury, joining Lowe and Chris York in the starting line-up, with Tom Sargeant starting on the bench. The match is due to be played at Worcester's Sixways Stadium, and kicks-off at 8.00pm. The game will be shown live on Sky Sports.

15 Greig Tonks (Leicester Tigers)
14 George Lowe (Harlequins)
13 Henry Trinder (Gloucester Rugby)
12 Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby)
11 James Short (Saracens)
10 Rob Miller (Newcastle Falcons)
9 Jordi Pasqualin (Gloucester Rugby)
1 Joe Marler (Harlequins)
2 James Clark (London Irish)
3 Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs)
4 Dan Williams (Gloucester Rugby)
5 James Gaskell (Sale Sharks)
6 Jamie Gibson (London Irish)
7 Jacob Rowan (Leeds Carnegie)
8 Chris York (Harlequins)

Replacements
16 Jamie George (Saracens)
17 Shaun Knight (Gloucester Rugby)
18 Peter Elder (London Wasps)
19 Tom Sargeant (Harlequins)
20 Dan White (Leeds Carnegie)
21 Rory Clegg (Newcastle Falcons)
22 Will Hurrell (Leicester Tigers)

England Under 18's Five Nations festival.

Five Harlequins have been selected for the England Under 18s team that take on Scotland at Newcastle Falcons' Kingston's Park on Sunday 22nd March, kick-off 2pm.

Joe Trayfoot (Epsom College), Sam Stuart (Sedbergh School), Charlie Matthews (Hurstpierpoint), Sam Twomey (Dulwich College) and Rob Buchanan (St. Bede's School) have all been selected for the match squad, with Buchanan, Twomey and Trayfoot all in the starting line-up.

England's match against Scotland is the start of a busy period for the Under 18s. On March 29th, they take on Japan High Schools at Exeter Chiefs' Sandy Park, before the Five Nations Festival begins in Parma, Italy next month.

Will Collier (Cranleigh school) and Joe Launchbury (Christ's Hospital School) are also starting for the England U18 AER side in their international against Japan High Schools at Plymouth Albion's Brickfields Stadium on Sunday March 22 (2.30pm).

Good Luck to all the boys involved.

Blackheath 45 - 57 The Barbarians

Quins Academy boys came face to face once again on Wednesday 18th March, as Blackheath faced the Barbarians in a special match celebrating Blackheath's 150th birthday season. Sam Smith started for his loan club Blackheath, whilst Seb Jewell lined up against him at outside centre in the Barbarians line-up.

The Barbarians squad assembled had representatives from seven different countries, including the first Nambian to play for the Barbarians, lock Heino Senekal, who has represented his country in three Rugby World Cup tournaments, and now plays with Cornish Pirates. There was also a familiar face in the line-up, with ex-Quins captain, Paul Volley, also representing the Baa Baa's.

Barbarians' president Micky Steele-Bodger said, "This match was a great occasion for both of our clubs. They have had close connections ever since eight Blackheath men were in the first-ever side fielded by the Barbarians in 1890. One of them, Percy Carpmael, went on to become the first president. In later years Brigadier H L Glyn Hughes was president of both clubs.

"It is fitting that having played Blackheath in the 75th and centenary seasons we have returned to the Rectory Field in this, their historic 150th year."

In what was a highly entertaining match for the spectators, both Academy boys crossed the whitewash, with Smith being singled out for praise from Blackheath, after he set up two tries (one of which invovled a mazy run, weaving his way around many Baa Baa's defenders before passing to the Blackheath full-back to finish the move) and then went on to score two of his own. However, it was Jewell who took the changing room bragging rights, as he scored under the posts to help the visitors to a 45-57 victory.

Barbarians Squad: Kevin Morgan (Newport Gwent Dragons & Wales); Donavan van Vuuren (Doncaster Knights), Seb Jewell (Harlequins & Esher), David Bishop (Ospreys), James Shanahan (Cambridge RFC), Simon Hunt (Birmingham-Solihull), Ollie Dodge (Bedford Blues); Richard McCarter (Dungannon), Nick Walshe (Bedford Blues & England)), Owen Ruttley (Cardiff); Nigel Hall (Newport Gwent Dragons), Patrick Palmer (Pontypridd), Jon Dawson (Cambridge University), Gordon Bulloch (West of Scotland & Scotland), James Cannon (Northampton Saints & Bedford Blues), Heino Senekal (Cornish Pirates & Namibia), Henry Head (Richmond), Paul Volley (London Scottish), James Lumby (Barnes)

England Counties.

Sam Smith was in action for England Counties this weekend when they took to the Twickenham turf to face France Amateurs. The match followed the RBS Six Nations match between England and France. Despite a strong performance, and crossing the whitewash three times, the England Counties side were unable to recreate the senior squads scintillating win, and fell to a 19-27 defeat, with a late drop-goal and last minute interception try being the final blows for the home side.

Loan Club Round Up.

With many of the boys still out on representative duties of one kind or another, there were few in action for their loan-clubs.

Seb Jewell played a part in the vital 7-16 away win for Esher against Cornish Pirates. Three previous academy members also featured in the win, with Charlie Amesbury, James Inglis and Alex Rogers also running out for Esher

Dan Frazier was on hand to help Rosslyn Park move up to second place in the League after a 28-17 win over Lydney. By the standards Park set themselves earlier in the season it wasn't a vintage performance. Every team goes through a relatively dodgy patch occasionally, but there aren't that many who pick up four-try bonus points in doing so!