Grounded duo selected for Hampshire after all

THE two young junior rugby stars who missed trials with Hampshire due to the airport firefighters' row have been given another chance by the county.

'I'm over the moon,' said Luke Jones, 15.

La Mare de Carteret schoolboy Jones and Jordan Gilvear were left heartbroken when their Flybe flight was cancelled on Sunday 1 February after a firefighter called in sick the day after an agreement to cover sickness absences expired.

Jones and Gilvear had been due to be in Hampshire that day to attend county under-15 trials.

They had also missed a previous trial due to bad weather and it was understood they were not going to have another opportunity.

But after extensive work by the island's new development officer Geraint Cooper, the Hampshire under-15 manager Mike Greenslade went and watched Jones and Gilvear in action for Guernsey against Alton last Sunday.

The pair subsequently impressed Greenslade and he has invited them to join his squad's training session at Eastleigh this Thursday evening. Both Jones and Gilvear have jumped at the chance and will be there.

The news has delighted the director of the Guernsey Rugby Academy, Geoff Renouf.

'This is what we're trying to achieve,' he said.