WHAT have Saracens, London Irish and Harlequins got in common?

They have all provided fewer representatives to the England under-18 rugby squad than the relative minnows of Bromley RFC.

Tonbridge pupil Rob Springall, who plays scrum-half; winger Nick Canty, who attends Whitgift School; and prop Tom Stanfield, of Millfield School, will all be pulling on the red rose jersey when the squad meets up in south Wales.

That is the venue for the Four Home Unions Festival, featuring the home nations, which will run from March 25 to April 1.

Also in action but in the emerald green colours of Ireland that week will be David Fenlon, another product of the Bromley youth academy.

The quartet's call-up represents a real coup for the club and is testament to the years of hard work invested in the youth recruitment policy, established two decades ago, as club chairman Jerry Freds explains: "When we set up the mini and junior section at Bromley many years ago, we never dreamed of how successful it would become. We now have hundreds of players across all age groups, ranging from under-seven to under-19.

"We insist on qualified coaches in all age groups, and thanks to their dedication we've one of the strongest set-ups in the country. It's a tribute to them that we've provided so many players to these international squads.

"A lot of our senior team came through the juniors. When the first team played in the 2003 Powergen Junior Vase final, many of the boys had come through the ranks as had head coach Mike Friday, now in charge of England Sevens."

Freds concedes many of the club's youth products will go on to bigger and better things at bigger and better clubs than Bromley (Canty and Stanfield are new recruits to the London Irish academy), but he remains philosophical: "Sooner rather than later this latest batch of talented youngsters will be moving on to pastures new, because that's part and parcel of rugby and indeed life in general, and so we have to accept it.

"But we'd like to think we gave them a decent grounding in their formative years, and helped them on their way to a career in rugby. We always monitor the boys' progress when they leave us, and these players will be no different."

Needless to say all four boys harbour aspirations of playing the game professionally, but not at the expense of their education it seems Springall for example dropped out of the Saracens academy to attend boarding school.

His father Ian, a 57-year-old solicitor from Chislehurst, said: "Rob's been playing at Bromley for the past decade, and maybe next year he'll consider moving on to the next stage, but for the time being he's got his studies."

Last week Springall and Co were taught a lesson by a Harlequins academy side, which showed the level they will be required to perform at consistently if they want to earn a living from playing the game.

But the schooling they have received at Bromley in the past has surely given them every chance of success in the future.

For more information about the club, you can visit its website by logging on to: www.bromleyrfc.co.uk