The bulk of the players selected for Scotland Students for the upcoming Student World Cup in Sydney, will play the first of three warm-up matches on Saturday 22 April (kick off 2pm) against Halifax Reserves.

The match is being staged at Lasswade Rugby Club, just south of Edinburgh, with other games scheduled against Keighley Reserves on Saturday 6th May and Scotland Club XIII on Saturday 17 June. The squad will depart for Australia on Friday 30 June.

“We started our selection process for the Student World Cup back in October,” said Head coach, Nathan Graham. “We had an excellent turn out at our trials and a number of very competitive sessions. The selected train-on squad has been putting in a lot of hard work in since then, and we are now ready to see how things go in a competitive match. We are very grateful to Halifax for taking the time to come up to Scotland to play.”

A total of 17 educational establishments are represented in the 22-man squad, with four of the players studying in Australia, and Northumbria University having the highest number from one institution, with three.

SSRL team manager, Paul Beckett added: “The opportunity to take part in the Student World Cup is tremendous for all of us, players and staff, and the game against Halifax Reserves is a vital part of our preparation. We are all looking forward to it.”

SCOTLAND STUDENTS WORLD CUP SQUAD:Archie Andrade, Maltings College; Douglas Chirnside, Oxford Brookes University; Mark Cordeaux, University of Sheffield; Mike Dowding, Loughborough University; Jordan Duncan, SRUC Elmwood; Liam Faughlin, University of Newcastle, Australia; Jack Elliott, Oxford Brookes University; Justin Faughlin, TAFE Illawarra; Ethan Flowers, Wakefield College; George Geddes, Brunel University; Damien Genocchio, University of Glasgow; Niall Hall, Abertay University; Scott Harrison, Northumbria University; Matthew Hogg, University of Newcastle; Finlay Hutchison, University of Newcastle; Scott Plumridge, Glasgow Clyde College; Jack Plumridge, Strathclyde University; Gavin Reed, Leeds Trinity University; Daniel Turland, Northumbria University; Luke Walters, Leeds Beckett University; Luke Westman, TAFE Illawarra; Toby Williams, Northumbria University.