POCKLINGTON are poised for a historic clash in the John Smith's Good Friday Sevens at Percy Road.

The draw for Yorkshire's oldest rugby seven-a-side tournament was made by England star Jonny Wilkinson on Monday and has thrown up the usual selection of mouth-watering ties to entice the fans to what has become a must-see event.

Host club Pock have been handed a bye into the second round where they are on course to meet either Northern or the first-timers South Asia Bulls.

As reported in last week's Scrum Down, The Bulls are an Asian development side from Bradford and will be led by former England, Featherstone and London rugby league back Ikram Butt - the first Asian to represent England.

Butt's side are sure to be an unknown quantity, especially as they are better known for the 13-a-side code, and they will be joined by three southern teams in Isleworth, Borough Road College and Beckenham.

Eight local clubs who have all won the tournament are in the draw, including the holders the Impalas, the Army side based at Fulford Barracks, who include a strong nucleus of Army Fijians.

The Impalas are also 'byed' into round two and will face either Goole or Beverley.

Hull, led by former York RL, Pocklington RU and dual Welsh international stand-off Gary Pearce, will also be desperate for success after being last gasp beaten finalists for the past two years and they await the winners of Selby v Doncaster in round two.

This year's event gets underway at 1pm with an encounter between Beverley and Goole, with the final scheduled for 6.40pm.

First Round: 'A' Beverley v Goole, 'B' Bishop Burton College v Borough Road College, 'C' East Yorkshire Jaguars v Knottingley, 'D' Selby v Doncaster, 'E' Northern v South Asia Bulls, 'F' Isleworth v York, 'G' Marist v Old Pocklingtonians, 'H' Ipswich Exiles v Beckenham.

Second Round: Impalas v Winner 'A', Brookfield v Winners 'B', Bridlington v Winners 'C', Hull v Winners 'D', Pocklington v Winners 'E', Hull Ionians v Winners 'F', Malton & Norton v Winners 'G', Driffield v Winners 'H'.

THE success of Pocklington brothers Rob and Matt Webber left their family torn between two places today.

With Matt Webber lining up with the Yorkshire Under-20s in the Tetley's County Championship against the East Midlands and his younger brother Rob starting for England Under-18s against Wales, their parents and close family were left with a tough decision on which game to watch.

However, it is 16-year-old Rob who was being cheered on today - a moral victory over his Loughborough University-based brother - as he prepared for his second international appearance.

The Leeds Tykes Academy star has been a revelation since moving from prop to hooker, resulting in an early call-up to the U18s.

And he has already showed he has what it takes to mix it with the older age-group as he helped England to a 22-20 victory over France last week - their first victory over the French in six years at that level.

Encouragingly for Rob, his hours of practice with Leeds and England hooker Mark Regan seem to have paid off with his line-out throwing hitting the mark.

Following today's game against Wales, Rob will return back to Pock for a few days before flying out to Dublin on Wednesday for next Saturday's clash against the Irish.

Meanwhile, Matt was aiming for a place in the last four of the U20s County Championship.

The White Rose tyros, including six players from the area, were taking on East Midlands in the quarter-finals this afternoon.

Richard Pike, Matt Stockdale, Richard Lewis, Henry Mitchell and Richard Booth were all in the squad along with Webber.

YORK skipper Peter Curtis was an envied man down at Clifton Park as he missed the club's crunch tie against Pontefract through work.

Now, working on a Saturday is hardly something that should be envied, especially when it forces you to miss out on something you love doing.

However, for former Otley forward, Curtis it meant a week skiing in Austria while his team-mates battled to secure York's place in the Yorkshire One/Durham and Northumberland One play-off.

Curtis' work as an Army recruitment officer dealing with University-based cadets meant York's player-coach - and one of the stars of their promotion push - had to take part in a week of outdoor activities.

It is a hard life for some!

ST PETER'S School pupil Thomas Woolsey is set to make his England Under-16s bow on Tuesday.

Woolsey, a try-scorer in the school's headline-grabbing Daily Mail Schools' Rugby U15s Cup triumph last year, is due to start on the blindside flank against Wales at Barnstable. The U16s will then go on to face the Italians and the Welsh again.

The West Gilling youngster usually plays No 8 but he caught the attention of the England selectors at the trials, and they have opted to move him across the back row to the blindside.

THE Fourth Annual York Veterans' Festival takes place at Clifton Park tomorrow.

The highly-entertaining competition for the areas over-35 players sees Selby, Halifax Vandals, North Yorkshire Police, Old Brodleians, York RI and Driffield battle it out with the hosts for the title of the top veterans side.

The action kicks-off at 11.30am with the plate final scheduled for 3pm and the main final 3.30pm.

The competition is a great family day out, especially ideal for youngsters who want to see the finer skills of the game.

Updated: 10:56 Saturday, April 12, 2003