Students' chance to tame Australia (From Warrington Guardian)

Students' chance to tame Australia

WARRINGTON'S Halliwell Jones Stadium will play host to its first student international Rugby League match this weekend.

Great Britain Students will tackle their Australian counterparts on Sunday in the second of two Tests for the Academic Ashes - and the GB players aim to succeed where the Lions failed in the Gillette Tri-Nations tournament.

Great Britain Students, who won the Ashes for the first time in 2001, have been training and preparing under the guidance of head coach Gary Wilkinson, who previously held the same position with LHF National League club Hull Kingston Rovers.

The Australian players, who won the Ashes last summer on home soil, are drawn from colleges and universities throughout Australia and include former Manly Sea Eagles star Brendan Reeves, who has played at first grade level in the NRL.

Student Rugby League's manager Matt Jeffery believes the clashes will be well worth watching and said: "The Australian team have been on tour in the UK for several weeks now and have already shown good form.

"But we know that the GB students are extremely well prepared and so it should be a tremendous contest."

Sunday's game at The Halliwell Jones Stadium will kick-off at 5pm.

There is a £5 admission fee and a programme will be included.