England Knights

Nickname

The Knights

Region

Europe

Head coach

Kieron Purtill

England Knights is the current name of England's second national rugby league team. The team has previously been known by different names, such as Emerging England and England A. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an international environment and to compete for a place in the England first team.

England Knights compete in the Rugby League European Cup, winning the most recently held tournament in 2012. The Knights' head coach is Kieron Purtill.

History

The team competed in the 90s as "Emerging England". The team won the 2003 European Nations Cup as "England A".

In 2011 the England Knights were created to serve as a step up for the younger players from their club in view of playing for the 1st team. A squad of players were chosen (below the age of 25) to represent the Knights in a few games. Their first ever game was against France and the Knights came out 38–18 victors.

The Knights won the 2012 European Cup by beating Ireland and Scotland in a 3 game tournament.

Statistics:

Title	Player	Number
Most Capped	Jodie Broughton	5 caps
Top Point Scorer	Luke Gale	28 points
Top Try Scorer	Jodie Broughton	6 tries
Top Goal Scorer	Jordan Turner	9 goals

Games the Knights have played:

Date	Competition	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Tries	Goals	Attendance
15 October 2011	Friendly	France	H	38–18	Myler, Houghton, Broughton, Charnley (2), Ratchford, Gale	Charnley 4/6, Westwood 1/2	2,071
22 October 2011	Friendly	Cumbria	A	26–12	Hardaker, Gale, Welham, Watts, Charnley	Charnley 3/5	1,163
16 June 2012	Friendly	Ireland	H	62–4	Hardaker (2), Jones-Bishop (2), Ratchford (2), Smith, Broughton, Flanagan, Hodgson, Lunt	Smith 5/6, Ratchford 4/5	11,083
20 October 2012	European Cup	Ireland	A	56–4	Broughton (2), Dixon, Turner, T. Burgess, Houghton, Gale, Lawrence, G. Burgess (2)	Gale 8/10	–
28 October 2012	European Cup	Scotland	A	62–24	Sarginson (2), Evans (2), Broughton (2), Taylor (2), G. Burgess, Dixon, Turner	Turner 9/11	–
19 October 2013	Friendly	Samoa	H	52–16	Powell (2), Taylor, Cockayne, Lawrence, Hughes (3), Ferres	Hardaker 9/9	–

2013 Knights squad

In addition, McNamara has an England Knights programme featuring players from Super League clubs who will supplement the pool of players available to the national team and add valuable pressure for international selection among the sport's top stars. In 2013, the Knights will face Samoa in a curtain-raiser to the full England teams World Cup warm up match against Italy.

2013 Knights Squad

First team squad

Coaching staff