SOUTHAMPTON resident Nat Heys has been selected by the England Deaf rugby team to tour South Africa this summer. 

Heys plays her club rugby with Southampton RFC at Test Park in Millbrook but will now don the Red Rose playing kit. 

Heys has been deaf in one ear since birth but is set to pick up her new kit on Saturday ahead of the flight to South Africa on Thursday, August 1.

Heys said: "I am honoured to have been selected to play for the England Deaf women's team as part of the men and women's tour to South Africa." 

A squad of 27 women have been selected for the 10-day tour, with a further 23 men making up the men's team. 

The women's team have been training in preparation for the tour at Bromsgrove RFC in the Midlands.