'Special moment' as brothers both prepare to captain England

Captaining your country is an honour every player knows is special but to wear the skipper's armband the same weekend as your brother is something few siblings experience.

On Sunday, Connor Treacey will captain England in their final Under-20 Six Nations match against France, 24 hours after his younger brother, Declan, does the same for England's under-18 team, who also take on a young French side.

"It's not often you get to play for your country let alone captain it and then the final cherry on the top is Connor captaining the 20s," Declan told BBC Sport.

"It's really good, a special moment for me and my family. They're all very proud."

Back-row forward Connor, 20, is the eldest of the Treacey siblings, followed by centre Declan, 17, and youngest brother Oscar.

All three play rugby union having started out at their local club New Milton.

"My dad has definitely been a big influence for us three," Connor said.

"I was about five, he took me down on a Sunday morning and [I've] loved it ever since."

As well as England's age-grade system, Connor and Declan are also both part of Bath rugby's academy, with Connor making his first senior appearance in the Prem Rugby Cup earlier this season.

As expected with brothers, there are similarities. Before moving into the forward pack, Connor started out playing at centre as Declan does now and they share the same playing ethos.

"We both see that physical side of the game around our tackle, ball-carrying but most importantly around our work-rate - how we get around the park and try and get involved in as many opportunities as we can and make the game go well," Declan said.

As the eldest brother, Connor also says he tries to pass on his experiences and any advice he can to help Declan out.

"We were both quite set in our ways when we were a little bit younger, trying to keep our heads down," Connor said

"But now we've got talking, it's quite nice I can share with him the stuff I've found a bit of a block in the path to try and help him.

"I don't want him to be a carbon copy of me and I want him to be his own player - and he definitely is, he's showing that on the field - but just give him as much help as I can."

Even though the two matches are taking place in different countries, with the under-18s playing at Championship side Chinnor's ground in Oxford and the under-20s in La Rochelle, France, the Treacey family are hoping to make it to both.

"My parents are buzzing, they're trying to make the trip to both the games which will be definitely tough but I'm sure they'll have a good weekend," Connor said.

And while neither brother is getting ahead of themselves by looking too far into the future, joining the illustrious list of brothers to have pulled on the England shirt together, like Tom and Ben Curry, Ben and Tom Youngs, and Mako and Billy Vunipola, is the ultimate goal.

"That's always the dream to make it yourself, but if I make it with all of my brothers that would be a great day," Connor said.

Declan added: "That's always the dream but we've got to get back to reality and focus on France [first]."