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England Academy name squad to face France

England Academy coach Dave Elliott has named his 17-man squad to take on France Under-18s in La Reoule, France on Saturday May 25 (4.30pm). The Academy squad made the journey across the Channel earlier this week and will be hoping to emulate the success of the England Youth team at Easter by defeating their French counterparts.
Elliott has retained six players from the 2012 tour of Australia in his starting line, including Wigan Warriors half-back pairing George Williams and Ryan Hampshire while Leeds Rhinos forward Jordan Baldwinson will captain the side.
“We know France will be strong and we’re expecting a very physical game,” said Elliott. “French sides at this level have continued to improve over recent seasons and the majority of their players have come through good youth systems at Catalan Dragons.
“But we have some very talented players in this group and I am confident that they will be able to put together the sort of performance that is required to get a good result.
“Travelling to a different country and contending with different cultures and food is a big learning experience for a lot of these lads and gives the players a great introduction to the kind of challenges they will face at Super League and senior international level.”

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Police Rugby League World Cup fixtures announced

The schedule for the Police Rugby League World Cup was announced at the Provident Stadium, Bradford earlier today and sees current World Champions Fiji, Australia and host nation Great Britain go head to head in a round-robin format.
The two leading teams will then meet as part of the Festival of World Cups Finals Day at Headingley Carnegie Stadium on Sunday July 14.

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Rugby League World - Issue 386 (June 2013)

And now, the end is near, it’s time to draw the final curtain: A famous line from a famous song which is quite appropriate for this issue of Rugby League World as our cover star, the ever-controversial Gareth Hock calls time on his Super League career to join the English exodus down under. We chat to Gareth about his chequered career, his dramatic departure from Wigan to Widnes and his ambition to represent England again at the World Cup before joining Parramatta next season.
Jamie Jones-Buchanan tackles another controversial character; recently retired top referee Steve Ganson puts down his whistle to talk about his new behind-the-scenes role at the RFL and takes a look back over a career which no one could ever say was uneventful. Just why did he send Moz off 12 seconds into a Test match against the Aussies? Find out here!
There’s no doubt Rugby League is the toughest of sports. Robbie Hunter- Paul looks at the rights and wrongs of asking players to put their bodies on the line twice over a gruelling Easter weekend and ponders whether financially Rugby League really has any choice. We also talk to Richard Moore, now with Leeds Rhinos but who has had to overcome a number of professional and personal setbacks to keep his career on track.
Players at Keighley Cougars are displaying a different kind of toughness. We have a special report on a groundbreaking scheme they are involved in to turn the lives of troubled youngsters in their local community around.
Welsh dual-code international Gareth Thomas talks to us about his belief in the World Cup and how it can help Rugby League pull in lots of new fans in Wales and beyond, and we take a look at Samoa’s ongoing preparations for the tournament. Planet League takes in recent developments in Sweden and Anthony Seibold demonstrates that you can play Rugby League and see the world.
Secret Speccie pays a first visit to Oxford’s Iffley Road ground, plus we chat with one of their new recruits, Matty Hadden. Hemel Stags wingman Tobias Rochester-Bremmer tells us how he got into Rugby League, as does St Albans Centurions coach Andy Champ and we also catch up with a former World Cup winner with Great Britain, Brian Lockwood.
As always, there’s lots more too with our regular grassroots, amateur and academy game coverage.

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Naylor keen to extend Whitmore loan at Oldham

Oldham coach Scott Naylor is keen to extend Danny Whitmore's loan period at Whitebank. The Batley Bulldogs' player, at the club initially for one month, hinted after his first Oldham game at Hemel Stags that a longer stay  couldn't be ruled out. Naylor has since confirmed that he would like to include 23-year-old Whitmore in his half-back plans on an open-ended agreement.
He said: "It would suit me to have him here for as long as John Kear (Batley boss) would allow it.
"Hopefully we can sort something out. Danny would like that, and so would we. I coached him at Salford, but when I came to Oldham he had already signed for Batley.
"It can take a half-back time to settle in at a new club, but Danny and Lewis Palfrey were often half-back partners in their academy days at Salford and they looked very comfortable together against Hemel."

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Dureau back in action for Dragons

Scott Dureau has been given the green light by doctors in Toulouse to resume playing following his recovery from an operation to remove a tumour in January.
“I'm very happy, it's obviously really good news, I was waiting for that decision for a long time,” said Dureau.
“The last five months since the surgery have been very long. I can't wait to be back on the field with my team mates.”
The 2012 Goldthorpe Medal winning scrum-half is set to return to action for Catalan Dragons against London Broncos this Saturday at the Magic Weekend at Manchester's Etihad Stadium.

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