Malherbe makes England Counties tour squad (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Malherbe makes England Counties tour squad

12:00pm Friday 27th May 2005 in Sport

WHARFEDALE centre Chris Malherbe has been selected for the England Counties squad to tour South America next month.

The South African was named in the national second tier touring party which will take on two sides in Argentina before facing Uruguay in Montevideo.

The call-up is just reward for Malherbe who has enjoyed his best season at the Avenue since he joined in August 2002.

The former Kendal and Otley player featured for England Counties in a one-off game against France Amateurs at Newbury back in February, which saw the hosts win 38-0. And he has also been on try-scoring form for Yorkshire in the recent county championship, in which they were pipped by Lancashire to a place in the final at Twickenham last Saturday.

Malherbe qualifies for England having played in this country for over three years.

He is the third player to represent Wharfedale at this level, following in the footsteps of current coaches John Lawn and Andy Hodgson, who were part of the touring side to Chile in 2002.

England Counties face a second tier Argentina XV at Santa Fe on June 12 and Rosario on June 15 before tackling Uruguay's national side - ranked number 15 in the world in the IRB listings - on June 18.