EssexRugby

Under 20s rugby in Essex
Essex U20s are fortunate to be able to source players from one of the largest and most densely populated Counties to form a squad to play in the U20s County Championship during early part of each calendar year. It is a fantastic opportunity for you to measure yourself against players of the same age group in the country.

The games and quality are a significant step up in pace and ability from anything you may have experienced so far in your rugby career, and is a great opportunity for you to really test your rugby skills in a more competitive arena.
The great thing about the U20s is that is it is completely open to ALL players regardless of the level of club, college or university rugby being played. If you are good enough, you will be selected. Indeed, over the years, U20s rugby has been a fantastic platform for players to showcase their skills and it has created many opportunities to network to higher level rugby, many of our current players have not previously represented the county squads at a younger age.

Essex U20s have a proud record of success in London & SE which we are keen to maintain and a strong ambition to progress all the way to the final at Twickenham.

Divisional and England pathway
After each Championship game, players are graded on their performance, offering the chance for further progression through to London Division and then further grading and games lead to England Counties representative rugby. U20s rugby is specifically aimed at those players with talent but that have not already achieved elite status.

After U20’s
The U20s are also used to feed through to our senior 1st XV who play under the Essex RFU banner. We have seen many of our U20s players making their full County debut, providing an opportunity for players to be involved in Essex for many years to come.

Your commitment
As a player, our experienced and professional coaching team are acutely aware that you may already have club / college / university / work commitments. Therefore our training sessions focus mainly on unit and team drills and structure, with limited contact. We always have a Physiotherapist available at each training session.

Our coaching team needs your commitment as the standard that U20s play at requires good quality preparation. The normal level of commitment is around 5 - 6 training sessions (with a couple being held pre tournament) as well as the Championships games which are played on Sundays. You are reminded that at this level it is expected that you will be fully aware of the need to manage your own fitness regimes outside of the scheduled squad training sessions.

This is an ideal and possibly the last opportunity for you to get the recognition or Divisional/England selection you deserve or have missed out in earlier years.

Selection process
Each year eligible players, even those with no previous County experience, are encouraged to attend open trials (usually held in November) the dates of which are advertised once the new season has commenced. All existing squad members are required to retrial, to ensure that we as a county continue to identify the best available players that will ultimately represent the county.
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Further Information
For further information or to find out how to get involved in U20s rugby, please contact either
Ivor Smith: U20 Manager ivorsmith@essexrugby.com
or
Dean Cutting U20 Head Coach deancutting@rfu.com