Dalton will have three of their youngsters representing their country this year after Elliot Stockdale, Evan Jones and Jack Stevenson were named in the England Community Lions Youth squad.

The trio are part of the 21-man squad that have been selected for the Lions’ warm-ups against Ireland and Scotland, which come before the Under-19 European Championships in Italy that take place from September 3-13.

Director of rugby Allan Coleman said: “There has been a lot of competition out there to get this squad right, but we feel that we’ve done just that.

“We feel with the two friendlies to look forward to we can get more experience of playing together and developing combinations, and hopefully we can produce something special come tournament time.”

Kells duo James Ennis and Will Ennis and Hensingham’s Jack Kellett and Aaron Turnbull have also been selected.