The Australian Schools and Under 18s squad will set off on their northern hemisphere tour next week with Bells on.
In a 27-man squad they’ve managed to name not one, but two, Angus Bells.
It could have the potential to cause havoc in a team environment but it turns out there is really no need to come up a complex way to tell which one is which.
Not when one Angus Bell is a bulky prop and the other Angus Bell is a lanky winger. It’s fair to say the two Bells don’t occupy the same geography all that often.
“If people look at the size of him no one really gets confused between the two of us,” Bell (the winger) says.
Bell (the prop) puts a little more thought into the question but arrives at the same conclusion.
“There is confusion out there …. but he’s a winger and I’m a prop,” Bell says.
If push comes to shove Bell (the prop) can go by the name ‘skipper’ on tour, having retained the captaincy after leading the Aussie schools under 18s side earlier in the year in their clash with the New Zealand schools at Ballymore.
The Newington College front rower has a strong pedigree in rugby, with dad Mark having played hooker for front for the Wallabies in 1996 against Canada.
Skipper Bell is in his second year in the Australian schoolboys side and recently signed an academy contract with the Waratahs.
Bell (the winger) is a speedy outside back from Riverview who impressed during the national schoolboys trials in the champion NSW side.
“It was a dream come true,” Bell said.
“I’ve always wanted the represent my country and just getting this opportunity I’m really lucky and happy.”
For the first time the Australian tour party will be bolstered by three under 18 players that have already left school.
“The new boys have really slotted well into the group, having the eighteens on tour now it adds that sharpness,” skipper Bell said.
The squad are in a training camp at Riverview Ignatius College in Sydney before flying to Europe for a three-week tour on Sunday November 25.
