YORK youngster Nicola Parry is gearing up to make her debut for the England Under-21s women's rugby league team.

As reported by the Evening Press last year, the York Acorn Ladies starlet was selected for the squad - which is effectively the Great Britain Under-21s squad - just two months after turning 17, and they are set to play their first competitive match tomorrow.

England U-21s take on the North West representative side at Oldham St Anne's ground (KO 2pm) in what is their first game in a four-way tournament that also features Great Britain Students and Yorkshire.

The round-robin competition - which will see other games played on March 16 and April 6 -will provide good warm-up contests for England U-21s ahead of their tour to France later in the year.

And Parry, who plays on the wing or at centre, will be involved, having been named in the 23-strong squad for the tournament.

Whoever impresses in this competition could well win selection for the full Great Britain team, and Parry, along with the other U-21s, have the advantage of being coached by current GB stars Lisa McIntosh, Sam Bailey and Sam Brook. Dylan Raynard, the GB assistant boss, is also on the U-21s coaching team.

Parry, a former Oaklands School pupil who now studies at York Technical College, joined Acorn aged 15 but, conforming with the rules of open age rugby, she has only played competitive matches since turning 16, so her speedy rise to the national set-up is all the more startling.

Updated: 10:15 Saturday, February 15, 2003