FALCONS ACADEMY TEAM UP WITH SAXONS STARS
cademy manager Mark Laycock and academy head coach James Ponton watched on as their fledglings trained alongside the likes of Christian Wade, Kyle Eastmond and Jordan Crane at Druid Park on Tuesday afternoon.
Saxons head coach Jon Callard was on hand to talk to the budding stars of the future as preparations stepped up a notch for the visit of Scotland A.
“It was an excellent session and our lads thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity of training alongside Englands finest,” said academy manager Laycock.
“We had to pull in a couple of experienced heads like Micky Ward and Chris Wearmouth from Blaydon to get our average squad age up to 20 but overall we were pleased with how the guys fronted up, especially since three of them are still at school.
> The intensity and pace of the session was the highest any of them have
> worked at before so it was a great reality check for the boys to see
> what it takes to be in that environment.
“The Saxons players and coaching team were very welcoming to our Academy and I hope they got out of it what they needed in preparation for the game against Scotland,” added Laycock.
Academy player James Hallam, who featured for the Falcons’ senior side against Tonga earlier this term, relished every second of his time on the training pitch.
He said: “At first everyone was quite nervous as we didn’t know what to expect, but once we got into it, it was really enjoyable.
“It was unreal as I was training with players that I watched on TV whilst at school, and it makes me want to get to the top even more.
“When we played a game of grab touch it was more like full on contact. It was certainly more physical than what I expected.”
Tickets for the Saxons game are still available by calling the Falcons Ticket Hotline on 0871 226 6060 or click here to purchase online.
