7th Annual Exiles Branch Screening Camp

The above took place on 24/25 June, at Brunel University’s West London campus as usual. 70 selected players from the U17, U18 & U19 (at 1st January 2006) age-ranges participated. They came from all over England and Wales; from as far apart as Middlesbrough, Bridgend, and Truro, and included a number of young internationals.

While the majority of the Camp was taken up with skills/techniques sessions, the players also undertook a full battery of fitness tests. A talk on Sport Psychology for the Young Player’ was included in the programme, as was a talk on Rugby & Education’. The latter was aimed at making our young players focus on their lifestyle (university, etc.) as part of their rugby development, and it was good to see the number of parents who availed themselves of the opportunity to attend this particular session.

The coaching team was headed up by Exiles’ Head Coach Peter Halsall, supported by fellow Exiles Kevan Bell & Brian Farrell, and with the much appreciated support of the IRFU through the coaching inputs from Hendrik Kruger, Tommy Conneely, Jimmy Duffy & Eoin Collins.