A YOUNG rugby player is proving to have the magic touch after being selected to play for his country.
Egglescliffe School and Sixth Form College student Nathan Williams was proud to slip on his England shirt as he took part in the Atlantic Youth Touch Cup, staged in Limerick, Ireland.
The touch rugby competition attracted players from Belgium, Cayman Islands, China, France, Ireland, Lebanon, Portugal, Scotland, South Africa, Ukraine and Wales.
The sport is an exciting and inclusive game played by teams of six players that promotes the fundamental skills of running, passing, catching, evasion and support play without the bruising full contact of the mainstream game.
It can be played by participants of all ages and genders and includes mixed-gender teams.
Nathan, 17, of Yarm, played in the U20s second team scoring two tries in a match against France.
He is part of the England training camp and hopes to be included in the first team next season. In the meantime he plays outside centre for Stockton Rugby Club.
“Both my parents played touch rugby and introduced the game to me when I was eight and living in Holland,” said Nathan, who is studying A levels in maths, further maths, chemistry and physics.
“I have played contact rugby since Year 7 and hope to continue playing both at university. I love touch rugby as it is very fast-paced and quite strategic. I’m looking forward to the next round of trials and hope to be selected for the first team next time.”
Nathan’s parents are both engineers and have worked all over the world. Nathan was actually born in Louisianna when they were working in the USA. He hopes to study engineering at Cambridge University with a view to becoming an electrical engineer.
Egglescliffe School is ranked number one in the Tees Valley for sixth form provision according to The Sunday Times and is rated outstanding by Ofsted. It recently underwent a £12m investment in facilities.
It takes students from 15 schools across the Tees Valley and half secure places at Russell Group universities, with 100 per cent pass rate in 21 subjects, 25 per cent of which are at grade A and A*.
“Egglescliffe Sixth Form is great,” Nathan said. “It has amazing facilities and teachers and even puts on after-school lessons for us.”
Deputy head Lee Henderson said: “Wearing an England shirt offers a sense of pride that can be shared throughout the whole school and sixth form and we are all immensely pleased for Nathan. We can’t wait to see what he does next on the sports fields and with his studies.”