All Golds v Oxford KPL1S 2017 Final

WEST OF ENGLAND LIONHEARTS
EXCITING NEW FORMAT
FOR HARRY JEPSON TROPHY
WRITTEN BY CHRIS WILSON
in the Harry Jepson regional
competition.
“Planning for this competition
started during pre-season when
club coaches were asked to
nominate the top three players
from each league fixture which
helped to inform invites.
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For the first time, this year’s
Harry Jepson Trophy will be
contested by four regional
representative teams. The
West of England, Midlands,
East, and London & South East
representative teams have been
undertaking selection trials as
their regular season draws to
a conclusion for the Trophy
clashes, which are due to start
at the beginning of September.
The Trophy is named in
recognition of one of the
sport’s greatest administrators
and a passionate expansionist,
Harry Jepson MBE, who passed
away a year ago. Each region
will play the other once and
the top two will then contest
the final at Hemel Stags on
Sunday, 24 September (kick
off, 2pm). “I had the privilege
of participating in the Harry
Jepson Trophy with Wests
Warriors last year, and am very
excited to be part of the brand
new structure this year,” said
Shun Tamura, senior manager of
the London & South East side. “I
was thrilled to see not only the
top clubs competing in London
Premier coming forward, but a
lot of Merit League players and
staff putting their hand up to be
part of it too.
“We have had a healthy amount
of player nominations and I am
very excited to see how the
squad shapes up over the next
couple of weeks. Tamura added:
“The intention is to showcase
how much London has to offer
in terms of the calibre of Rugby
League played in the region
and the passion our players
have for the sport.
“This is the first time in my
experience that London clubs
have come together in this form
and there have already been
very positive conversations
and discussions among the
management group.” Chris
Chatten, Chairman of the West
of England Representative
programme, added: “We are
excited to be participating
“The regional squad have
now had two training sessions
together with around 80 players
taking part.” Dave Raybould,
competition manager at the
Rugby Football League, noted:
“There is a real appetite for
regional representative Rugby
League in England and the
2017 Harry Jepson trophy is
seen as an ideal opportunity to
showcase it.
“Preparations have begun
in earnest for what should
be an exciting climax to the
community season in these
regions.”
The format was effectively
launched in 2016 by West of
England club administrators
Will Brewer (Oxford Cavaliers),
Glenn Tyreman (Southampton
Spitfires) and Chris Chatten
(Bath).
Chatten, who is now chairman
of the programme, said: “Last
year was all about getting a
relatively large pool of players
an opportunity to play at a
higher level and then go on tour.
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