Attwood signs for Bath

Posted on Feb 9, 2011 in Rugby News

Bath Rugby have announced the signing of England and Gloucester lock, Dave Attwood, on a two year contract.

The 6ft 7in, 23 year old lock, originally from Bristol, has made 39 appearances for the Cherry and Whites in his two years at the club, becoming a widely respected and mainstay member of their pack in the process.

His lineout prowess and athleticism around the field has already caught the eye of the England selectors, and he was awarded two caps in the Autumn internationals, his first off the bench against New Zealand. He has also represented England at U19, U20 and Saxons level.

Talking about the move, Dave said “I am tremendously excited to be joining Bath Rugby. There are some truly amazing things going on at the Club and everyone who I have spoken to, including players past and present, coaches and owners, back room staff and fans, is tremendously excited about the direction and future of the Club.

“Personally, it is a great opportunity for me to push myself out of my comfort zone on the pitch and develop the brand of rugby that I can play. I will be sorry to leave Kingsholm behind, but sometimes that is the way life pans out. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time there and appreciated working with everyone.

"I’m delighted to be joining such a great group of players and hope that I can help in pushing the Club towards achieving its ambitious goals, both in the Premiership and Europe."

Director of Rugby, Sir Ian McGeechan, commented “Dave is a very talented young player, and will fit in nicely here at Bath. He is already a very skilful player, and will only get better as he matures. He is a very down to earth character, so will fit easily into the squad, both on and off the pitch.”

Head Coach, Steve Meehan, added “Dave is a very big presence on the park, and a lot for opposition players to handle, so he is going to make a significant impact for us. He has very good line-out skills, and his style of play will work well with ours.”

Munster side for B&I cup

Posted on Jan 20, 2011 in Rugby News

Anthony Foley keeps the same forward pack that battled to victory against Nottingham while making a number of changes to his backline for Friday’s British & Irish Cup clash with Esher at Garryowen FC (7.30pm).

Three of those backline changes are necessitated by the call up to the senior squad for Scott Deasy Tom Gleeson and Denis Hurley with Declan Cusack named at out-half, Troy Smith replacing Gleeson in the centre and Sean Scanlon at full-back in place of Hurley.

Other than that, Duncan Williams starts on this occasion ahead of Conor Murray who is named among the replacements with Simon Zebo starting on the wing having come off the bench against Nottingham last weekend.

Munster: Sean Scanlon; Danny Barnes, Ivan Dineen, Troy Smith, Simon Zebo; Declan Cusack, Duncan Williams; Dave Kilcoyne, Sean Henry, Stephen Archer; AN Other, Dave Foley; Billy Holland capt, Tommy O’Donnell, Paddy Butler.

Replacements: Duncan Casey, Peter Borlase, Dave O’Callaghan, Brian O’Hara, Conor Murray, JJ Hanrahan, Corey Hircock.

Ewers on the right track

Posted on Jan 4, 2011 in Rugby News

Exeter Chiefs youngster Dave Ewers admits even he has been surprised by his progression this season, but the talented 20-year-old insists there is still plenty more to come from him.

Ewers started the season as a relative unknown to many outside Sandy Park, but impressive on-field displays in recent weeks have helped catapult the former Ivybridge Community College student firmly into the first team reckoning with the Aviva Premiership newcomers.

With Cup starts against Montpellier, London Wasps and Newcastle Falcons already under his belt this term, Zimbabwean-born Ewers was on Sunday named among the Chiefs replacements for their home encounter against defending Aviva Premiership champions Leicester Tigers.

It was just reward for the hard graft put in by the hard-nosed back-rower who is seemingly happy to run through brick walls to improve his game.

Although he ended up not been used against the star-studded Tigers, the experience of preparing for such an occasion was one that Ewers clearly savoured.

"I was a little nervous before we went out, but talking to Scays [James Scaysbrook] he just said to do the basics well and if I did get on, stay focused and see how it goes."

Ewers admits the support he has received from senior figures like Scaysbrook, Richard Baxter and skipper Tom Hayes has helped him to advance his career and improve his all-round play.

"I’m quite excited about my future," he said. "This season has gone well so far for me and to be part of the first team squad has been great. Now, though, it is down to me to perform well and stay there.

"I’ve worked hard with all the coaches and had a lot of help from the other players, especially Richie Baxter. I’ve tried to work on doing the basics right and getting bad habits out of my game."

Clearly Ewers has taken on board all he has been told and with a trip to Gloucester next on the horizon for the Chiefs, he hopes to be among the travelling party for this Saturday’s trip up the M5 to Kingsholm.

"As I said, I’m really happy with how things have gone," said Ewers. "I’m very proud to be here at a place like Exeter, I would not be anywhere else really.

"Being part of the first team has been great and this weekend we have another really hard game up at Gloucester. They have a big following up there and some quality players, but if we could get a win up there, I think that would again put down a big marker for the club and this group of players."

Although inactive on Sunday, Ewers played the full 80 minutes for the club’s United side, who won 26-25 at Saracens in Monday’s A League fixture at Old Albanians.

Tries from Bryan Rennie, Sam Hill and Chris Bentley, plus a further 11 points from Argentinian fly-half Ignacio Mieres ensured Exeter of only their second victory in the A League this season.

It was another useful run-out for many of the club’s fringe first-team members and Ewers is hoping he did enough to convince head coach Baxter that he can be involved once again this weekend against the Cherry & Whites.

Certainly Baxter has been delighted with the form of Ewers, stating: "Dave is where he is now because he’s not only put in the hard work, but he is showing good form both when he plays and when he trains.

"As I’ve said before, we like to pick players who are on form and right now that is where Dave is at. He did well in both the Cup games against Newcastle and we’ve rewarded that effort by picking him in the first team. We’ve always said that age is no barrier, we just work on the principle that if you are doing the right things and showing good form, we will always look to reward that as best we can."

Gloucester field strong side for LV= game vs. Sarries

Posted on Nov 12, 2010 in Rugby News

England’s loss is Gloucester’s gain as Dave Attwood and Paul Doran-Jones return to the starting line up for the LV=Cup tie with Saracens on Saturday (kick off 1pm) while Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu and Brett Deacon are both back from injury.

Attwood and Doran-Jones have both been training with England over the past two weeks and Attwood made his international debut as a replacement against New Zealand last Saturday.

However, neither player has been selected for the England 22 to face Australia this weekend and slot straight back into the Gloucester side.

Fuimaono-Sapolu is named for the first time since the win over Bath at the Rec on October 1^st whilst Deacon has recovered from the leg injury that forced him to leave the field during the win over his former side, the Leicester Tigers, a fortnight ago.

And, after a couple of A League run outs following his comeback from a knee injury, Tim Taylor starts at fly half.

Also of note amongst the replacements is the selection of England U18 scrum half Dan Robson who is named in the matchday squad for the first time.

Head Coach Bryan Redpath, talking ahead of the team announcement, acknowledged that the visitors will present a tough challenge.

“They made a lot of changes last weekend and they have rotated their squad a lot. Saracens are a dangerous side who play a fairly expansive game.”

“They have some very talented players. You just have to look at Joubert and Britz and Goode and players like that. They’re a very good side and we have to respect them.”

“It won’t be easy, there’s no given. This tournament does have value and every club will see that.”

Gloucester Rugby:

Olly Morgan; Charlie Sharples, Henry Trinder, Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, James Simpson-Daniel; Tim Taylor, Jordi Pasqualin; Nick Wood, Olivier Azam, Paul Doran-Jones, Dave Attwood, Alex Brown; Brett Deacon, Andrew Hazell, Luke Narraway (capt)

Replacements:

Darren Dawidiuk, Yann Thomas, Pierre Capdevielle, Dan Williams, Matt Cox, Dan Robson, Freddie Burns, Lesley Vainikolo

Mark Anscombe takes over NZ U20

Posted on Oct 8, 2010 in NZ

Auckland ITM Cup Head Coach Mark Anscombe has been appointed as Coach of the New Zealand Under 20 team for their 2011 campaign.

Anscombe has been part of the highly successful New Zealand Under 20 coaching combination with Dave Rennie, who steps down from the coaching role after three seasons with the team.  Anscombe has been with the team for all three IRB Junior World Championship wins, having come on board as a development coach for the first campaign in 2008 before stepping into the Assistant Coach role for the past two years.

Former Sharks and Wellington Assistant Coach Chris Boyd has been appointed as Anscombe’s Assistant Coach.

NZRU General Manager of Professional Rugby Neil Sorensen said that the appointment was a natural progression for Anscombe.

“Mark has been involved in three very successful campaigns and we saw him as a natural fit to step up into the head coach role.

“The team, under the guidance of Dave and Mark, have become one of our most successful teams and I am sure that Mark and Chris will continue in achieving the same high standards,” he added.

Boyd returned to New Zealand earlier this year after two seasons with the Sharks Super Rugby team in South Africa. Prior to this he spent six years with Wellington Rugby in various coaching roles including coach of the development and academy teams and four years as the Assistant Coach of the Wellington Lions.

The 2011 IRB Junior World Championship takes place in Italy in June.