CREDITONCOURIER

A STUDENT at Queen Elizabeth's Academy in Crediton recently represented England in the under 16 rugby squad.

The outstanding sporting achievements of Year 11 student Marcus Street are being celebrated by the QE community.

Marcus, admits that he was a reluctant rugby player when he first started playing the sport six years ago purely to improve his fitness.

Only 12 months after first kicking a rugby ball Marcus was selected for play for Devon and his sporting career has gone from strength-to-strength.

He has represented Exeter Chiefs, Devon, the South West and now England at U14 and U16, and of course he played rugby for Queen Elizabeth's!

His position in the squad is Prop. Props have to take in pressure from all sides in a scrum, so they are often among the strongest players in a team.

Marcus says that being selected to play for England has been a brilliant experience and he is very proud to represent England.

His advice for any young rugby players hoping to emulate his success is to "keep focused, and keep playing".

Having completed his GCSEs Marcus's future plans are to train with the Exeter Chiefs and England U18 Rugby Academy and to continue to represent Exeter Chiefs and England Rugby whilst studying Sport and PE at Bicton College.

Marcus's PE teacher at QE, Paul Tearle, said: "Marcus is now reaping the rewards of his hard work and the fantastic attitude that he has had for the last few years.

"He is humble with his success and been a role model both as a player and an individual to many others in the school. It's been a pleasure working with him and I wish him all the best for the future."