England’s water polo squads return to action in Home Nations Tournament

England’s senior men’s and a women’s developmental water polo squad are heading to Dublin to compete in a Home Nations Tournament this weekend.

The men’s side are looking to retain the title that they won in Coventry last year whilst the women’s team gives some of the nation’s up and coming talent from the U19 and U17 squads a taste of senior action.

The competition takes place at the Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 May.

England will take on Wales, Scotland and Ireland in a tournament that presents a great opportunity to prepare both squads ahead of this summer’s events.

The women’s competition gets underway on Friday evening before the men begin their campaign on Saturday.

England’s senior men’s squad contains nine of the players that won all three of their matches in 2022.

They defeated Wales (21-2), Ireland (10-6) and Scotland (13-7) as they lifted the trophy at the Alan Higgs Centre last May.

This time around they’ll be looking to repeat the feat and will be led by experienced head coach Nick Hume who will also be preparing to select his squad for the British team’s entry into the LEN European qualification event next month.

He will be joined by Matt Holland – Great Britain’s goalkeeper at the London 2012 Olympics – as assistant coach and Ian Elliot as team manager.

Katy Cutler will lead the women’s side with Rose Younger as assistant coach and Victoria Dickens as their team manager.

It’s a team that contains a mixture of youth and experience and includes a number of players that took part in the U19 European Championships in 2022.

It also gives the opportunity to some of the younger members of the squad to gain some high-level match experience ahead of the U17 European Championships in August.

At 15-years-old, Lucy Blenkinship (City of Manchester) and Amelie Perkins (Cheltenham) are a part of the squad as they look to continue their form from the Swim England National Age Group Championships where they won the U17 girls top scorer and MVP awards respectively.

Referee Connor Jukes is also set to make his international debut at the competition after a successful domestic season in the BWPL.

HBV will be live streaming all the action from the Home Nations Tournament which you can sign up and watch here.

You can see the full schedule for both teams as well as a list of all the athletes and coaches heading to Dublin below.