Talented pair called up by national squad

A couple of local rugby starlets have been called up by the national side ahead of a training camp in preparation for the Colwyn Bay Rugby Festival in April.
Alex Samuel - Madras RugbyAlex Samuel - Madras Rugby
Alex Samuel - Madras Rugby

Alex Samuel and Gabriel Smith, both pupils at St Leonards, are two of 50 young Scots picked for the camp.

The young players have been split into red and blue teams with both the local youngsters part of the Scotland U16 Blues side.

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Alex and Gabriel play their club rugby for Madras and Howe of Fife respectively but will team up when the camp meets ahead of the festival.

Scottish Rugby’s Head of Academy and Performance Programmes, Stephen Gemmell, highlighted that Scotland U16 is an important stage in the development of young, aspiring players.

He said: “The forthcoming U16 programme in Wales is a vital part of our representative pathway and builds on the excellent work undertaken in our clubs, schools, BT Sport Academy and Regional programmes.

“In recent weeks, the players have been involved in a performance development environments where the focus has been on improving their understanding and their application of individual and unit skills, aligned to our technical blueprint and the programme in Wales now allows them to put these under the pressure of increased competition.”

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Graham Shiel, head coach of Scotland Blues, is looking forward to the fixtures in April but believes there will be some tough opposition waiting for them down in Wales.

He said: “The players and management are looking forward to travelling to Wales in April to play 3 games against tough opposition.”