THE South West Under-18s were defeated in both of their matches at the Divisional Festival, held at Broadstreet Rugby Football Club, Coventry, last weekend.

The South West side, which featured Somerset Under-18s duo Sam Hanks and Joe Joyce in their starting XV, were edged out 32-31 by the North before they crashed to a 36-12 defeat against London & South East.

But there was some good news to come out of the two defeats for lock Joyce, who, following a superb performance in a retreating pack, has been drafted into the England Clubs and Schools squad for the international against Ireland Under-18s on April 14.

The squad, which is the equivalent of an England Under-18s second XV, will play warm-up games against Northampton Academy (March 11) and Leicester Academy (April 8) before the Ireland clash.

Joyce, who plays for Filton College, said: "I wasn't that confident of getting into the England set-up after being on the losing side in both of our divisional games.

"But the coaches said that I did well and gave me the nod."