MORE than a decade of divisional coaching has been rewarded for Royal Grammar School coach Colin Tattersall -- with a top England job.

The Wycombe school's sports master has been appointed coach of England's Under-16 squad for the 1999/2000 season.

And this week Tattersall, who has guided some of the country's top players through their school rugby, spoke of his delight at getting the job he has been working towards over the last ten years.

He said: "It's nice to feel I've been selected for this position out of all the people in the country.

"I've been coaching at divisional level for ten years, five with London and five with the South West. At the moment 22 out of the 25 South West youngsters play for England and England A, which is quite a good record.

"I think it's helped that my profile is quite high, especially with the school's record in the Daily Mail Schools Cup.

"I'm absolutely thrilled I've got the job and the school's new headmaster Tim Dingle has been very supportive."

Tattersall believes his new England position will fit in well with his school schedule.

The England matches he is working towards fall during next year's Easter holidays. The RGS teacher will be preparing his squad for games with Wales and Italy.

And Tattersall, who has taken RGS teams to Twickenham for the Daily Mail School's Cup final for the last four year -- with wins from three of them -- is looking forward to the task.

He said: "The nice thing about coaching at this level is that the boys are extremely well motivated. They're very capable and you're basically dealing with an elite group."

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