DURFC Dominates England Squad
Four of Durhams 1st XV line up for England Students against Portugal
Last week Durham students Josh Beaumont, Tom Shiel, Mike Ward, James Hallam and alumni Tom O'Toole were picked by the England Student Rugby team to face Portugal in Lisbon.
This was always set to be a tough game, with Portugal ranked 24th in the world and having recently recorded wins over Romania and Russia, both of whom played in last years Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
Despite the high level of opposition the England Students took the game to the Portuguese, managing to score four converted tries. In the end though they just fell short, with the score ending 31-28 to Portugal.
The presence of five Durham players in the England Student squad marks a dramatic change from this time last year when all five players attended trials, but with none of them making the final squad.
This oversight of Durham players proved controversial at the time as DURFC 1st XI were unbeaten at the top of the Northern Premier League and had just moved into the semi finals of the BUCS Cup.
The controversy was stepped up when it was seen that 18 out of 30 members of the England Students squad were from Loughborough, with the England Students backs coach also Loughborough's 1st XV coach.
Since then Durham 1’s have won both the league and the cup and are in a position to do it all over again in 2012 as they currently sit on a 32 game winning streak.
This seems to have swayed the opinion of the England Student’s selectors as Durham students outnumbered Loughborough four to zero in Lisbon last week.
As DURFC's unbeaten run continues don’t be surprised to see the England Students side looking more and more like Durham’s 1st XV…