Where are they now - North

Following on from our look last week at the Midlands squad from the 2010 U18 English Divisional Rugby Festival, we now turn our attentions to the North squad.

Although the North side were consigned to two defeats at the tournament and a fourth-place finish, the squad has produced far more professional players than the Midlands team we previously profiled, not to mention a media mogul in the making.

We start in the front row – and with that potential media mogul – as starting loosehead prop that day was Max Ashcroft, founder of Red Panda Sevens and owner of Talking Rugby Union. Ashcroft also enjoyed a 2 ½ year spell with Bath Rugby before embarking on a career as an entrepreneur. He is playing in National 2 with Sedgley Park Tigers and was selected in the England Students 2015 squad.

The North’s side starting hooker, Scott Briggs, is another noteworthy name; he is the brother of Neil Briggs who is heading to Sale Sharks next season. Scott was previously with Sedgley Park and is now with high flying Sale FC.

Josh Beaumont, who is currently one of the form players in the Aviva Premiership, was starting in the engine room for that side, whilst Ross Harrison was the lock cover on the bench. Both players now feature regularly for Sale, although largely in new positions, with Beaumont becoming a dynamic force at number eight and Harrison bringing his considerable bulk to the front row as a prop.

Unfortunately there was less to write about in both the back row and the half-backs, although starting fly-half at the festival, Greg Lound, now represents the Rotherham Titans in the Greene King IPA Championship.

The back line is an entirely different proposition however, with Sale’s Will Addison and Mark Jennings headlining a unit that was packed with potential. The Sale duo have so far had the most success, representing Sale in both the Premiership and Europe with regularity, with Addison in particular hitting his stride this season in his new position on the wing, not to mention developing a proclivity for scoring tries.

Yorkshire Carnegie full-back Christian Georgiou was also a part of the North’s back line, starting at inside centre, and he was joined in the squad by Curtis Wilson and Chris Gemmell. Both Wilson and Gemmell were a part of the Carnegie academy with Georgiou, but have since moved on, with Wilson joining Lound at the Titans and Gemmell finding a new home at Otley.

Most of these players mentioned are still just at the beginnings of their professional careers and the future certainly looks bright. Beaumont and Addison headline the group, with both players pushing their cases for representation at the highest level, thanks to their blistering form in the Premiership. Harrison is not quite at that stage in his career just yet, but as props tend to not mature as early as other positions, he is a player certainly worthy of keeping an eye on, as is Georgiou, who will certainly have earned some admiring glances from Premierships clubs thanks to his displays in the Championship this season.

If our look at the Midlands squad showed us how difficult it is to make the jump from age-grade talent to professional rugby player, then the North squad has shown us that not only are Sale good at discovering promising talent, they are also excellent at developing it.

Make sure to check in next week when we will look at the South West squad, which may include a household name or two for fans of both the Premiership and England rugby.