Lancashire will be looking to keep the 2019 Academy Origin series alive on home soil when they face Yorkshire at Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road in the first match of the Betfred Championship Summer Bash programme on Saturday morning as three Saints youngsters are named in Ian Talbot's squad.
Jake Wingfield, Jamie Pye and Matthew Foster are all included as both teams have been forced to make several changes due to injuries and first-team call-ups.
Yorkshire took the lead in the three-match series with a 24-14 win at Castleford last month and the second match will offer another opportunity to see some of the country’s brightest young talent for Our League members and early-birds at the Bash.
Lancashire have looked south to the London Broncos to strengthen their squad, with call-ups for Oliver Leyland, a scrum half from Kent who started his development with the Invicta Panthers junior club in Maidstone, and Kai Pearce-Paul, a forward from south-east London whose elder brother Kam has already played senior rugby for the Broncos.
There are four more newcomers to the squad, two each from Warrington and Wigan – Cole Oakley and George Roby from the Wolves, lifting their representation in the 18-man squad to four players, and Ben Holdcroft and Brad O’Neill from the Warriors, who now have six in the squad.
Warrington and Wigan are also represented in the Yorkshire squad. Amir Bourouh, one of five new faces in their 18, played his junior rugby for the renowned Halifax club Siddal before signing for Wigan, while the Warrington trio of Riley Dean, Ellis Longstaff and Jacob Gannon all retain their places in the Yorkshire squad – coached by Luke Robinson, the former England half-back / hooker who is now a member of Simon Woolford’s Huddersfield Giants staff.
The other newcomers are Ben Tibbs and Robson Stevens of Huddersfield, and the Bradford Bulls pair Ethan O’Hanlon and Anesu Mudoti.
Yusuf Aydin, the Wakefield Trinity prop who was named man of the match in the Yorkshire’s opening win, is again joined by club-mates Jack Croft and Connor Bailey in the starting 13.
And Tom Holroyd, another Siddal product who has played Super League rugby for Leeds Rhinos this season after impressing in England Academy’s victory over the Australian Schoolboys last autumn, will be another focus of attention in Blackpool.
The third match of the series will be played in Yorkshire on June 15 – with the whole series being shown live on Our League and Twitch.
Squads
Lancashire: Josh Thewlis (Warrington), Ben Holcroft (Wigan), Cole Oakley (Warrington), Sam Halsall (Wigan), Umyla Hanley (Wigan), Joe Barnes (Warrington), Oliver Leyland (London Broncos), Ethan Havard (Wigan), Jake Wingfield (St Helens), Jamie Pye (St Helens), Kai Pearce-Paul (London Broncos), Connor Wrench (Warrington), Matthew Foster (St Helens), George Roby (Warrington), Jake Bradley (Whitehaven), Harry Rushton (Wigan), Jarrod O’Connor (Leeds), Brad O’Neill (Wigan).
Yorkshire: Liam Whitton (Leeds), Jack Croft (Wakefield Trinity), Ben Tibbs (Huddersfield), Dom Young (Huddersfield), Liam Tindall (Leeds), Riley Dean (Warrington), Mikey Lewis (City of Hull Academy), Yusuf Aydin (Wakefield Trinity), Corey Johnson (Leeds), Tom Holroyd (Leeds), Ellis Longstaff (Warrington), Connor Bailey (Wakefield Trinity), Jacob Gannon (Warrington), Amir Bourouh (Wigan), Robson Stevens (Huddersfield), Ethan O’Hanlon (Bradford), Rian Rowley (Leeds), Anesu Mudoti (Bradford).
