TWO Penrith rugby union players are in the England Fire Service squad for their fixtures next month.

Jamie McNaughton, 25, and Dan Richardson, 26, both play for Penrith RUFC and were chosen for the England squad following a successful trial.

Jamie, from Penrith, works for BAE Systems Fire and Rescue in Barrow and plays fullback.

He has been in the fire service for six months.

Dan, from Shap, works at Shap Fire Station and is a second row.

He started his career in the fire service in 2015 at Lazonby Fire Station, where he worked for two years.

Dan spoke about the moment that he was told that he was chosen for the squad.

He said: "I was buzzing about it. It’s a great honour to represent your country, even if it’s through the fire service.

"I can’t wait to be honest. I’m just looking forward to getting started with it."

The men took part in a trial match against Morley in Leeds in August and were selected for the squad afterwards.

Despite being in the fire service for six years, this was the first time that Dan went to the trial, after being encouraged by his coach at Penrith.

The team will play five matches, with opponents including Army Masters RFC, Her Majesty's Prison Service Rugby, the Royal Air Force Fire Service rugby team and Wales Fire Service Rugby.

The first game is against the England Police rugby team on October 6 in Doncaster.

Both Dan and Jamie are in the squad for this match.

Dan said: "There’s a few Cumbrian people playing in the first game, so we’ve got good representation.

"I’m hoping to put in a decent performance and get picked for the Wales match definitely. Through that one you can get selected for GB fire service.

"That would be awesome. That would be the best I could possibly achieve."

He said that it can sometimes be difficult to balance sport and work.

"With working shifts you get quite a lot of time off to play rugby, so it’s quite easy to manage sometimes. There are the odd games you do miss out on.

"With the England Fire Service games being midweek, I don’t have to miss any club games as it were. I’ll just have to take some time off to play the games."