Newcastle Falcons’ Ajay Edwards has been named in the England Rugby Men’s Pathway squad for a specialist training camp at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre.

The Durham School student is among the backs selected to attend with the camp which kicks off this Friday September 27^th and runs through the weekend.

The dual camp will focus on the development of tight-five forwards whilst offering specialised training for backs.

U18 Men assistant coach Will Parkin, joined by consultant coach Alan Kingsley and former England, Kenya and USA Men’s Sevens coach Mike Friday, will guide 29 of the most promising U18 backs in the country with position-specific preparation across half-backs, centres and back three players.

The weekend’s schedule also offers the opportunity for specific Individual Development Plan (IDP) focus from pathway coaches with further education around psychology and nutrition from James Mackenzie and Andy Kasper, respectively.

A coach development workshop involving 15 Premiership Rugby academy coaches alongside the men’s pathway staff will also be hosted at the centre this Saturday. 

Pendlebury’s U18 Men return to Bisham for two development camps in the final weekends of October and November, respectively. 

Andy Titterrell said: “Last year’s camp proved highly beneficial and the successes for many players were evident in their individual progression and further minutes awarded on the pitch. 

“Whilst that resulted in silverware for some, what we always set out to do is to create an environment where players are allowed to explore their capabilities and test the boundaries of their game. This year will be no different, and the prospects we have coming through are incredibly promising to say the least. 

“It’s a valuable opportunity for myself and the U20 coaches to continue our identification of the next players to break through into the pathway and to bring their IDPs to life in a testing camp environment.”

Will Parkin said: “We always have development at the forefront of our minds for these camps and bringing the best players together in the country for their age, will certainly test their positional skills under a different pressure to what some of them have been under before. 

“The main purpose of coming to Bisham this week, which is slightly different to our usual camps, is to ensure the fundamentals of their positional skills are broken down and there is a real focus on individual skills rather than the team preparing for a game. As always, we want players to come in and make good mistakes, so they leave the camp as better players than when they arrived.

“During our tour to South Africa, ‘Getting Better and Better and Better’ was about seizing an opportunity for players to take ownership of their development as well as the team. We similarly encourage this new group to take as much from this camp on and off the pitch, back to their schools, clubs and academies.”

England Men’s Pathway 2024 front-five camp squad (includes academy and school)

Archie Appleby (Northampton Saints, Sedbergh School)

Diamond Ayiehfor (Leicester Tigers, Warwick School)

Jonno Balding (Gloucester Rugby, Radley College)

Sam Bland (Yorkshire Academy, Bishop Burton College)

Tom Davis (Sale Sharks, St Mary’s College, Crosby)

Mathis Dehauteur (Saracens, Oaklands College)

Marlon Farouk-Roy (Saracens, Oaklands College) 

Kealan Freeman-Price (Gloucester Rugby, Hartpury) 

Jerold Gorleku (Harlequins, Bishop Wand School) 

Kieran Hill (Bristol Bears, Richard Huish 6th Form College)

Dylan Hodkinson (Sale Sharks, Wirral Grammar School) 

Ollie Hull (Northampton Saints, Stamford School)

Henry Laidlow (Harlequins, Trinity School)

George Leyland (Bristol Bears, Clifton College)

Tubuna Maka (Leicester Tigers, Brooksby College)

Rory McKnight (Bath Rugby, Wellington College)

Bronson Mellowes (Leicester Tigers, Brooksby College)

Alan Poku (Saracens, Bishop Wand School)

Riley Raikes (Exeter Chiefs, Truro College)

Oli Scola (Northampton Saints, Northampton School for Boys)

Oliver Spence (Yorkshire Academy, Grammar School at Leeds)

Ethan Surrey (Bristol Bears, City of Oxford College)

Oscar Thomas (Bath Rugby, Wellington College)

Sonny Tonga’uiha (Northampton Saints, Northampton School for Boys)

Elliot Williams (Harlequins, Gordon’s School)

England Men’s Pathway 2024 specialist backs camp squad (includes academy and school)

Ollie Batson (Exeter Chiefs, Exeter School)

Noah Caluori (Saracens, Mill Hill School)

Felix Champain (Harlequins, Worth School)

George Dufty (Gloucester Rugby, Bromsgrove School) 

Ajay Edwards (Newcastle Falcons, Durham School)

Lochie Glackin (Leicester Tigers, Denstone College)

Sonny Goode (Northampton Saints, Bloxham School)

Ollie Harris (Bristol Bears, Clifton College)

Charlie Heard (Saracens, Berkhamsted)

Tom Jacques (Sale Sharks, Sedbergh School)

Ryan Jones (Saracens, Mill Hill School)

Finn Keylock (Saracens, Bishop Wand School)

Bruno Lamb (Bristol Bears, SGS College)

James Linegar (Bath Rugby, Kingswood School)

Henry Lumley (Northampton Saints, Finborough School)

Nick Lynagh (Harlequins, Hampton Boys)

Isaac Mears (Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff School)

George Newman (Exeter Chiefs, Truro College)

Theo Povey (Harlequins, Gordon’s School) 

Aidan Pugh (Bath Rugby, Piggott School)

Evan Russell (Bristol Bears, SGS College)

Tristan Saunders (Harlequins, Dulwich)

Hugh Shields (Northampton Saints, Northampton School for Boys)

Asa Stewart-Harris (Saracens, St Albans)

Joe Taylor (Harlequins, Cranleigh School)

James Townsend (Leicester Tigers, Warwick School)

Declan Treacey (Bath Rugby, Beechen Cliff)

Sam Winters (Bath Rugby, Harrow School)

Victor Worsnip (Bristol Bears, Clifton College)