Teenage prospect Tane Harmer is well on course to realising his ambition to play top-grade rugby union, writes deputy sports editor Tony Kelly.

The 13-year-old from Melbourne, near York, has just won a sports scholarship to Sedbergh School, one of the north's union strongholds.

Former luminaries who honed their game at Sedbergh include one-time England captain Will Carling, and current centre sensation Will Greenwood, so Harmer's heave up to the renowned rugby-playing institution is a major fillip.

He had three interview boards to negotiate before bagging the scholarship, said his delighted father Eddie, a New Zealander who played senior grade rugby for Hawkes Bay alongside several of the All Blacks' squad who went on to tour England just over three decades ago.

It was just three years ago that Harmer junior made his first real impact in the sport when he was crowned Pocklington RUFC's Under 9s player of the year after he amassed an astounding 91 tries in 52 games.

Soon after that he won a rugby union scholarship to Cundall Manor Prep School at Helperby, near Boroughbridge. Now Sedbergh beckons for the teenage ace, who, established in the crucial role of stand-off, is determined to make the grade as a professional at the highest level.

Updated: 13:26 Thursday, March 22, 2001