Walker named in England squad (From Craven Herald)

Walker named in England squad

8:10pm Wednesday 3rd February 2010 in

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Former North Ribblesdale junior Chris Walker has been named in the England U-18 squad for the remaining five games of this season’s international programme.

The Settle student attends Prince Henry’s Grammar School at Otley, which is affiliated to Leeds Carnegie’s rugby academy.

Walker is currently playing in Otley RUFC’s first team in National Division One.

The open side flanker scored four tries in their massive 87-3 win over Manchester last week.

Last season he captained the North U-18s and went on to play and be vice-captain for the England U-18 AER squad in France.

The England side, coached by John Fletcher and Peter Walton, extended their unbeaten international run to 13 games when they beat Australian Schools side 30-28 last month.

England will take the field against France at Newbury on Sunday, February 21 (3pm) and away games follow against Italy (March 7) and Wales (March 28) before they face Ireland and Scotland in the annual Six Nations Festival in April.

“We’ve got a strong squad and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” said Fletcher.

“There’s not been much carry-over from last season so there’s a lot of young lower-sixth guys in it but they’ve trained well and did well against Australia in December. We’ll try and give everyone a start in the first two matches and go from there into the game against Wales and the Festival.

“Everyone will get a lot of game time. Young players can’t develop without being pitched in to deal with stress and adversity, and we’ll put them in that position to see how they cope.”