Royston youngster selected by England for a high performance training squad

Ethan McGillivray has impressed playing for Royston in touch rugby, enough to be called into England's high performance training squad.

The selection process started in April with Royston hosting one of the mixed rounds and a men's round.

It was there he was spotted and in August he travelled to Oxford to compete in the England Touch Junior Nationals tournament playing for Midlands Tigers U15 Boys, Royston's regional team.

McGillivray got among the scorers at the tournament to further catch the eye of the coaches and he has now been chosen as one of the 99 boys who along with 59 girls will eventually form the country's U18 and U15 sides for boys, girls and mixed.

The training camp is set for Saturday.

Ethan McGillivray from Royston Touch has been selected for the England high performance training squad. (Image: Alan Linsdell Photography)

A spokeswoman for Royston Touch said: "We hope that Ethan will bring back to his home squad some of the higher level training ideas as well as put his new training to good use supporting the team in their upcoming competitions.

"Ethan has recently completed his level one referee award with England Touch also.

"He is regularly snapped up by other regional teams such as Lincoln and Cambridge to play at the Eastern Region Development Series when Royston are not playing.

"There is no knowing where this youngster's talents will take him."

England Touch said: "While next summer's international junior programme is still to be confirmed, this year's squads will be following in the footsteps of four European champion teams after England swept the board in Paris in August 2019."

Royston Touch train every Wednesday night between 7.15pm and 9pm at the Heath and new players are always welcome.

The adapted version of the game makes it a minimal contact sport and is suitable for all ages from 13 up, for both male and female players of all abilities, fitness levels and experience.