A CHESTER PE teacher starred for England Down Under in two testing tournaments as the new-look England hockey team takes shape.

Simon Egerton, who teaches at the King’s School, recently headed to Australia to compete in the International Super Series Hockey 9s tournament in Perth, before playing in the Men’s Champions Trophy in Melbourne.

Simon, who has been in superb form for club team Beeston this season, made his return to the England squad after injury had kept him out.

He said: “I think my performance went quite well, having been out for so long. It was a really good experience for everyone involved.”

England took a silver medal away from the Perth competition, where the largely youthful squad was beaten 5-2 in the final by Australia.

In the Champions Trophy, England started well and defeated Olympic champions Germany 4-1, but faded and eventually lost to New Zealand 3-2 in the playoff for seventh place.

Simon explained the purpose of the competitions was to seek out the next generation of England’s rising stars.

He said: “It was difficult to get a cohesive run as it was a mix of inexperienced players and others who have been involved in the past.

“But beating the Olympic champions was fantastic, and a lot of teams put out a full-strength side.

“There are going to be quite a few changes coming up and now the team looks to the next four years, preparing for Rio.

“We had (former King’s School pupil) James Fair, the England goalkeeper, speak at the school, and him relaying his experience of being at London 2012, playing in front of all those crowds, really gave me a thirst for it.”