Bath under-18s back picked for the world sevens series
He’s spent most of the season scything through school or under18 defences with his languid running style.
This weekend, Beechen Cliff pupil Diego Periel will be mixing it with some of the best 7s players on the planet.
The 17-year-old has been selected as part of Spain’s squad for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series events in Las Vegas and Vancouver.
An outside centre in 15s, Periel is part of the Bath Rugby U18s squad which finished 3rd in the Premiership Rugby age-group tournament.
Periel represented the senior Spanish 7s team last year on the European circuit.
He was training with Spain’s U18 15-a-side squad when he got the latest and most impressive call-up.
Spain have named a 14-man squad for the next two tournaments - Alejandro Alonso, Javier Carrion, Javier From Juan, Pablo Fontes, Francisco Hernandez, Joan Losada, Inaki Mateu, Diego Periel, Pol Pla, Marcos Poggi, Ignacio Rodriguez-guerra, Manuel Sainz-trapaga, Juan Martinez, Daniel Barranco.
For the Vegas tournament, which runs from March 1-3, Spain are in Pool A with Series leaders New Zealand, Samoa and Canada. The Vancouver tournament is the following weekend.
Coached by Pablo Feijoo, Spain are punching above their weight this season. They’re ranked 8th out of 17 teams in the standings, ahead of Argentina, Samoa, France and Wales.