The RFU's Junior National Academy is the fourth tier in England's Elite Player Squad, sitting underneath the Intermediate and Senior National Academies and the England senior squad, which were announced last week. No other club could match Leicester's tally of four representatives; a point which once again highlights the successful nature of the Tigers academy.
"It's a great accolade for all four young lads involved," says the head of Tigers' academy, Andy Key. "Everyone at the club is very pleased for them as we know it means a lot to be considered at international level. They'll no doubt benefit from the coaching they'll receive and I'm sure they'll continue to mature as players."
The inclusion of Ben Youngs was cause for a second celebration for the family of former England scrum half, Nick Youngs, after Ben's brother and fellow Tiger, Tom, fellow was named in the Intermediate Academy earlier this week.
"It's obviously been a good week for the Young family," says Key. "Ben has done particularly well to be selected for the Junior National Academy as he's only 16 years of age. He's obviously impressed at international age-group level and I'm sure he'll continue to progress, both with Tigers and the RFU."
Having watched footage of all last season's England U-16 and U-18 matches, Jim Mallinder and the other National Academy coaches were given ample opportunity to identify the individuals best equipped for the JNA when selected players took part in two recent week-long training camps.
"The squad was selected with input from each of the national academy coaches, age group coaches and the regional academy managers," says RFU director of academies, Conor O'Shea. "With four of their players making the squad, Leicester continues to produce young talent."
"We're all extremely excited with the amount of talent on display at the camps, not just in the group that we've chosen," said National Academy head coach, Jim Mallinder. "There are some players who were very unlucky to miss the cut and I'm pretty confident that we'll be seeing some of them again in the near future. Certainly they have all learnt a lot from the last few weeks and we'll be keeping a close eye on them.
Junior National Academy 2006/07:
Calum Clarke (Leeds Tykes)
Neil Clarke (Leeds Tykes)
Jack Cobden (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Collett (Leicester Tigers)
Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby)
Carl Fearns (Sale Sharks)
Ben Ibrahim (Saracens)
David Lewis (SWERA)
Josh Ma'Tavesi (SWERA)
Robert Miller (Newcastle Falcons)
Harry Owens (Worcester Warriors)
Jacob Rowan (Leeds Tykes)
Duke Seymour (SWERA)
Charlie Sharples (Gloucester)
Mike Stanley (Saracens)
Seb Stegman (NEC Harlequins)
Greig Tonks (Leicester Tigers)
Dan Williams (SWERA)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
