Tickets are selling fast in what will be a momentous day for our club, on Sunday 3rd March 2013 Blackwell Meadows will host the first international game of rugby to be played in Darlington.

England U18s will take on Scotland U18s looking to build on their 20-8 defeat of Scotland at Hawick last season.

An RFU statement reads:

"England Under 18 will head to Darlington RFC’s Blackwell Meadows to play Scotland in their opening game of the 2012/13 season on Saturday, March 3.

England are the reigning champions of Europe, having won the FIRA/AER European Championship last season, beating Ireland 25-13 in the final in Madrid.

The last time the two sides met England won 20-8 in Hawick with tries from Callum Braley, Ross Moriarty and Joel Conlon, all of whom have since moved into the England Under 20 set up.

Head Coach John Fletcher said: “We’re hugely excited about heading up to Darlington – they have excellent facilities and we have enjoyed great support from matches in other parts of the country in previous seasons. We deliberately try to move the games around the country, allowing rugby supporters an opportunity to watch England's young talented players play an international match.

“We have trained well so far this season and we’re really looking forward to getting out there and playing. It is always a really tough match against the Scots and they had a talented group last year at Under 17 level.”

England will come to Darlington RFC, with their coaches taking coaching clinics over the weekend with our junior and mini teams.

With a strong possibility that local Yarm Schoolboy Zach Kibirige could feature, given his scintillating form recently for Newcastle Falcons, we hope to encourage a massive crowd down to Blackwell Meadows.