A TALENTED teenage rugby star from Basingstoke RFC has advanced his claims for an England under-18 team place.

Simon Humberstone helped London and the South East to overall victory in the inaugural England under-18 divisional festival at Castlecroft, Wolverhampton, over three days last weekend.

His team finished on Sunday with a 19-0 win over the Midlands, a match in which the Basingstoke RFC and Hampshire player ran in a try and kicked two conversions for a nine-point tally.

The victory gave the South East youngsters a clean sweep of three wins in the first divisional tournament for this age-group, in which schoolboys and club players were merged into one.

The purpose of the three-day trial programme of six matches was to enable the selection panel to run the rule over 140 players in preparation for an international programme at Easter, which will involve England fielding three teams in different competitions.

The selectors were looking to find 72 players to progress down the international path - and the 'Stoke player certainly put himself in the shop window.

Having beaten the North 34-25 in the opening game on Friday and then getting the better of the South West 17-12 on Saturday, London and the South East progressed to the final.

After seven minutes of the match, Peter Symonds College student Humberstone converted a try by full-back Chris Bishay.

With the strains of a three-match weekend starting to show in the second half, London reinforced their supremacy when a smart pick-up by No 8 Hugo Ellis paved the way for fly-half Humberstone to wriggle through for a try by the posts that he also converted.

Humberstone hopes to get a letter from the selectors during the next week.

He said: "I didn't think there was an outstanding number 10 there last weekend, so there is an even chance of getting in one of the England squads."

Humberstone - who kicked two conversions against the North and made a 20-minute appearance as a replacement against the South West - is the eldest of three rugby players from the same family at Basingstoke.

Their father, Martyn Humberstone, is a former joint head club coach and former first-team captain.

This season, Simon Humberstone made his first-team debut for the club at the age of 17 - a year younger than his father's call-up for the Bedford first team.

Since then, he has featured in Basingstoke's starting line-up four times, accumulating 27 points, including a try. He has also made three appearances as a replacement.

The teenager, who is sponsored with a cash bursary by estate agent Michael O'Shea of Keel Barrett, is a loyal Basingstoke club servant. He served as first-team bag man for five seasons - a job now undertaken by his 14-year-old brother Andrew.

Jim Dixon, his club head coach, has praised Humberstone's all-round strength.

"He has a real rugby brain," he said. "He is a ferocious tackler and an exceptional kicker."

Club chairman Steve Tristram said: "Simon is a nice young man and is very talented. I understand he is being considered as the number one fly-half for England under-18s and I'm delighted.

"One of his talents is kicking and he spends many hours practising."

Referring to his son's performances last weekend, his proud father Martyn said: "He did very well. We'll just have to wait and see if he gets picked."