U20 ROSES MATCH PREVIEW

Sat 14 Mar 2026 10:07

This Sunday 15th March, the Lancashire U20 will face Yorkshire U20 in a 'Roses' battle royale at Leigh RUFC with a 1415 Kick Off. To see the future senior talent of the county in action, get yourself down to Hand Lane. All support is welcomed.  

The Red Rose men will be looking to build on their performance in February, when Lancashire edged an end-to-end contest against Cheshire U20 at Lymm RFC, with a tries from Archie Hamer, George Reay, Joe Donnelly, Cameron McIntyre, Charles Feeley, Taran Mathuda and conversions from Lewis Jeans securing a 32-34 victory in the Jason Leonard U20s County Championship. 

The online match programme can viewed and downloaded on this LINK  Download

Images by PAC Photography ©

BATTLE OF THE ROSES

Long before Rugby Football had acquired commonly accepted laws Lancashire and Yorkshire were eager to compete with each other.   From 1860 a Lancashire team played Yorkshire in an annual “Battle of the Roses” which was considered the blue ribbon of Northern Rugby.  

Yorkshire formed a Union in 1869 and continued to play an invitational Lancashire side made up predominantly of players from the established clubs of Manchester and Liverpool.  This all changed on the evening of 22nd December 1881 at the Albion Hotel, Manchester, when a meeting was convened of 16 invited clubs and the Lancashire County Rugby Football Union was formed. 

In 1895 artist William Barnes Wollen painted 'The Battle of the Roses' (also known as 'The Roses Match) depicting a game between Lancashire and Yorkshire at a packed Fallowfield Stadium in Manchester on 24 November 1894. The story of this painting and its significance can found in the match programme. 

LANCASHIRE v YORKSHIRE

The U20s game on Sunday will be first of four 'Roses' encounters this season, with Lancashire Women and Lancashire Men also facing Yorkshire in their respective County Championships during May.

Saturday 9 May
Bill Beaumont County Championship
Lancashire Men v Yorkshire Men
Venue: Fylde RUFC
KO: 1500

Saturday 16 May
ROSES DOUBLE HEADER
Venue: Hull Ionians RUFC (HU15 1HX)

Gill Burns County Championship
Yorkshire Women v Lancashire Women
KO: 1300

Bill Beaumont County Championship
Yorkshire Men v Lancahire Men
KO: 1500

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