International honours for three members of Hornets youth section

Hornets Rugby Club are coming to the end of an extremely successful season.

AS HORNETS’ first season in National League SW3 builds towards the climax of the home fixture against local rivals Weston on Saturday, the pipeline of young players continues to grab the headlines.

With two games left in the season, the young Hornets squad still have a third place league finish in their sights, and also have the Somerset Cup final to look forward to.

This is a position that was beyond the wildest dreams of club members five years ago when they were relegated into the Somerset Premier Division, the league their Development XV is now on the verge of being promoted into.

The most incredible part of the story is how the club’s success is built on the young players that have come through the club’s mini and junior section.

In recent weeks, the already young side has seen six 17, 18 and 19-year-olds making their National League debuts.

As well as the first team riding high, the Development squad are currently top of Somerset Division 1 and are well placed to win the league. The Colts recently won their league and the third team are also pushing for promotion.

While the club continues to build on its recent success, there is also a massive feeling of pride throughout the club following three members of last year’s Colts squad being recognised at international age group level.

Two players, Curtis Langdon (London Irish academy) and Josh Caulfield (Exeter Chiefs academy) are currently part of the England Under-18 squad playing in the AER competition in France, while Alex Colbourne has moved further afield and has recently made his debut for Canada Under-20s and will hope to be included in the Canadian squad for this year’s World Championship.

Curtis, who plays hooker and Josh, second row, are both former pupils at Priory Community School in Weston, while back row Alex went to Churchill School.

However, the immediate future is to finish this season on a high and in particular the upcoming fixture against Weston.

With Hornets winning the first league meeting of the two teams earlier in the season by an impressive 34-3 scoreline in front of a massive 2,500 crowd, they are hoping for a repeat of the performance.

The match should be hard-fought against a Weston team who will need a convincing win to stand any chance of avoiding relegation.

The match will be played at The Nest on Saturday, with the kick-off being 2.30pm. Tickets will be available on the day, but arrive early as a large crowd is expected.