PLYMOUTH Albion and Cornwall star Matt Shepherd will start England Counties’ opening match of their tour of Canada on Friday.
Shepherd, a late call-up to the squad, will line-up at full-back in the match against BC Bears in Vancouver. He scored 20 points as Cornwall beat Cheshire in Sunday’s County Championship final at Twickenham.
Former Albion player Dan Williams will start in the second-row, Freddie Gabbitass at fly-half and Matt Cornish at hooker.
Another former Albion man, Tom Cowan-Dickie, who has been linked with a return to Brickfields, will be on the bench.
“We are excited to be playing our first match of the tour and expect a tough game against BC Bears,” said team manager Matt Long.
“Our coaching team are confident in the players selected and we’ve had a good training week to prepare. England Counties have a strong record on overseas tours and we are looking to continue this on Friday.”
England Counties team to face BC Bears
15 Matt Shepherd (Plymouth Albion and Cornwall)
14 Nigel Baker (Gloucestershire and Cinderford)
13 Sam Winter (Hertfordshire and Bishops’s Stortford
12 Chris May (Hertfordshire and Old Albanians)
11 Leo Fielding (Gloucestershire and Blackheath)
10. Freddie Gabbitass (Kent and Blackheath)
9. Tom Banks (Hertfordshire and Bishop’s Stortford)
1. Trevor Davison (Durham and Blaydon)
2. Matt Cornish (Surrey and London Irish Wild Geese)
3. Elliot Millar Mills (Cheshire and Macclesfield)
4. Dan Williams (Devon and Torquay)
5. Rob Conquest (Hertfordshire and Darlington Mowden Park)
6. Keith Laughlin (Northumberland and Blaydon) – Captain
7. Nyle Davidson (Caldy and Cheshire)
8. Ryan Parkinson (Cheshire and Macclesfield)
Replacements
- Daniel Seal (East Midlands and Cambridge)
- Matt Miles (Hertfordshire and Old Albanians)
- Tom Cowan-Dickie (Cornwall and Redruth)
- Ian Kench (Surrey and Esher)
- David Fairbrother (Lancashire and Fylde)
- Jack Walsh (Kent and Blackheath)
- James Stokes (Eastern Counties and Coventry)
- Joseph Tarrant (Eastern Counties and Ampthill)