Exeter sign Peter Short from Bath

Posted on Jun 14, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Exeter Chiefs have added their eighth new signing of the summer with the capture of second row Peter Short from Aviva Premiership Rugby counterparts Bath Rugby.

The 31-year-old forward has agreed a one-year deal with the Chiefs and arrives in Devon having spent the past six seasons at the Recreation Ground, where he amassed 145 appearances for the club, scoring 20 points in total.

Short admits that whilst he has enjoyed his lengthy tenure at Bath, the time was now right for him to take on and tackle a new challenge within the game.

Initially it appeared that challenge may have taken him across the English Channel to Paris, where he was due to sign for Top 14 outfit Stade Francais. However, recent events at the French club saw that move break down and the Chiefs moved swiftly to secure his services for the 2011/12 campaign.

And Exeter head coach Rob Baxter is delighted to have got the Liverpool-born forward on board for the new season. He said: "We had a look at him before he decided to go to Stade Francais. We met him a while ago but it looked like that had gone cold for us. With developments at Stade things changed and when he became available again we met him again and had another chat and watched more games because he came back fit towards the end of the season, including playing against us."

His 72 minute display against the Chiefs was one of just six appearances Short made last season for Bath. A torn bicep meant he was forced to sit out a section of the season, but he did return in the latter weeks and Baxter was suitably impressed by what he saw from the 6ft 5in, 19-stone lock.

"He didn’t play much last season, but we feel he can add something to the squad," added Baxter, who has also added fellow lock Aly Muldowney from Glasgow Warriors this summer. "He’s the type of player I was looking to bring in to the front five. He’s a bit bigger and sometimes that element of bulk is what you need in certain games and at certain times of the year.

“He’s also a good line-out forward and good at restarts, which sometimes you don’t see as the job of the bigger second rows. He’s capable of playing in the back row and that’s a good fit for us because we ask a lot of our front five, we expect them to work very hard and get through a lot of work. He’s a bit older and the benefit of that is that he brings a lot of experience to a younger pack. He ticks a lot of boxes for us so it was an easy decision to go for him once he became available again.”

Although last season was one which Short himself was happy to write off, Baxter insists he has no major concerns over the long-term fitness of his newest addition.

“In many ways he’s in great shape physically,” he said. “He’s about 120kg but only about eight per cent body fat – he is in great shape.

“He has a bicep injury last season but that can happen to any forward over the course of their career – we’ve had several players do that at the club and they’ve all come back fine. He’s also had an on-going knee injury throughout his career but it hasn’t stopped him playing.

“We’ve done a full screening and we know what the concerns are, but if you checked any forward at this time of year they would all have bits and pieces wrong with them. Tom Hayes and James Hanks were bashed about last season but it didn’t stop them playing. I’m very confident Peter is the sort of person who knows how to manage himself, how to look after himself after training and after matches to keep himself in the best possible condition.”

With Short ticking numerous boxes on Baxter’s player checklist, the player himself is relishing the opportunity of running out for the Chiefs in the top flight.

He said: "Obviously I’ve had some really good few years at Bath, but things are starting to change up there and I’m now looking forward to a new challenge with Exeter. The set-up is clearly fantastic and you can see the club is built on solid foundations. Talking to Rob as well, he’s an impressive guy and I liked what he had to say about the future direction of the club. You can see the club are wanting to build on last season and I want to be part of that as well.

"Exeter had a great season last year and full credit to them for that. You can see they are a tight group of players, they’re well-conditioned, and they know what they are doing and they want to get better. As I said, it’s going to be a new and fresh challenge for me, but it’s one that I am relishing."

Certainly Short was impressed by the vision of the future portrayed by Baxter, a man the newcomer is keen to work with over the coming season.

He added: "I like the manner of the man. He clearly knows what he is talking about and has a good outlook on the game. I spoke to a few other guys about him and they said he was a straight shooter and someone who likes you to work hard and do your bit for the team. He’s been there and done it in the past and watching Exeter from afar this year, you can see he has a vision on how they want to play and how they want to develop. As a front five forward I like the ideas he has, so I’m looking forward to working with him."

With the Chiefs set for only their second ever season in the Premiership, Short is well aware that Exeter will not catch their league rivals out so easily – especially after producing such an impressive first year of action.

"Of course the new season is going to be tough," said Short, who has previously played for Moseley, Leicester Tigers and Narbonne. "People will know a lot more about Exeter this year, but equally Exeter will know more about the opposition so it kind of works two-way in that respect. I think a lot of people looked at Exeter at the start of last season as being the league’s potential whipping boys, but as we saw they proved a lot of people wrong and I doubt people will be thinking like that again this year."

NAME: Peter Short
DOB: 20/6/79
BIRTHPLACE: Liverpool
HEIGHT: 6’5 (1.96m)
WEIGHT: 19st 6lbs (124kg)
PREVIOUS CLUBS: Moseley, Leicester Tigers, Narbonne, Bath
REP HONS: England Saxons, Under-21s, Students, Barbarians

Durham edge out UWIC in BUCS sevens

Posted on May 11, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

For the second time in 11 days, Durham University edged out University of Wales Institute Cardiff in the climax of a student rugby tournament when they beat them 29-27 in the final of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Sevens Championship at Preston Grasshoppers at the weekend (May 7/8).

Durham recently edged out UWIC by a couple of points at Twickenham to win the BUCS Men’s Championship final 25-23 after trailling 23-12 at halt-time and at Lightfoot Green, Preston on Sunday, they again snatched the prize with by a two-point margin.

With 14 teams taking part in the Men’s section and 11 in the Women’s, the two-day Preston event was the product of five regional qualification festivals in which over 40 teams participated.

At the Quarter-final stage, UWIC had to battle to the death to get the better of Hartpury 19-12, while Durham had more to spare in beating Manchester 26-12. The Semi-finals, however brought a reversal of roles as UWIC romped home 40-12 against Newcastle, whereas Durham reached the final with a 12-5 win over Loughborough, one of the outstanding games of the competition.

In the Women’s section, the Loughborough v Exeter tie was the pick, the former getting home 12-5 in a another tense affair to set up a Semi-final against Leeds Met. That game was also on a knife-edge to the death, but this time it was Leeds who got home 17-12.

UWIC Women ensured that there was a trophy to take back to Cardiff via a handsome 48-7 victory over Leeds Met in their final.

Now the top four Men’s and Women’s teams go forward to compete in the Prestigious European Students Festival, while victory in the Men’s competition gave Durham a place at Twickenham in the Middlesex Charity 7s.

Former England and British Lions captain Bill Beaumont OBE and Bob Reeves, RFU Chair of Student Rugby and RFU Junior Vice President, presented the trophies.

Results:
Men: Cup qualifiers – Loughborough w/o, Newcastle 47 Medway 0, Leeds Met 47 Glamorgan 7, Bristol 36 Liverpool 7, Manchester 33 Bath 17, Hartpury 33 Exeter 3. Plate quarter-final – Glamorgan 38 Medway 3. Cup quarter-finals – UWIC 19 Hartpury 12, Durham 26 Manchester 12, Loughborough 19 Bristol 14, Newcastle 26 Leeds Met 19. Plate semi-finals – Bath 36 Glamorgan 12, Exeter 21 Liverpool 12. Cup semi-finals – UWIC 40 Newcastle 12, Durham 12 Loughborough 7. Plate final – Bath 19 Exeter 26. Cup final – UWIC 27 Durham 29.
Women: Cup quarter-finals – UWIC 49 Leeds 0, Leeds Met 36 Chester 0, Loughborough 12 Exeter 5, Edinburgh 24 Manchester 10. Plate semi-finals – Leeds 17 Manchester 24, Chester 7 Exeter 38. Cup semi-finals – UWIC 26 Edinburgh 0, Leeds Met 17 Loughborough 12. Plate final – Manchester 7 Exeter 39. Cup final – UWIC 48 Leeds Met 7.

Steve Diamond thanks Exeter’s CEO for helping motivate the Sharks ahead of Friday’s game

Posted on Apr 20, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Exeter may be kicking up a stink about visiting Edgeley Park on Good Friday but the Premiership newboys’ “snooty putdown” of the facilities at Sale’s HQ has only served to make the Sharks more determined to win Friday afternoons game!

By way of fuelling the pre-match flames, Exeter chief executive Tony Rowe tossed out an incendiary verbal hand grenade at the weekend when, in an interview with a Sunday broadsheet about the state of the domestic game, he loftily declared: "I’m going to Sale on Friday and I’m not really looking forward to sitting in a tired old stadium where you’ve got to hold your nose when you go to the toilet.”

One Sale official was moved to reveal the Sharks had already ordered in extra supplies of Harpic and Blue Flush so as not to offend the Chiefs!

But for Sharks executive director of sport Steve Diamond, Rowe’s outburst has only served to strengthen his hand in terms of pre-match preparations for what will be the Sharks’ final Aviva Premiership home game of the season.

"To be honest I’ve never heard of Tony Rowe but his comments have just helped me with my team’s motivation for the game," was Diamond’s withering assessment of Rowe’s verbal stink bomb.

"He can’t flatter himself and think that Exeter are that powerful that they can come up with those expectations.

"The Exeter coach Rob Baxter has done a brilliant job at Exeter but he has been let down by his Chief Executive who has said the wrong things at the wrong time, having had less than one year’s experience of the Premiership having spent the previous 15 years trying to get here.

"There’s no drama to us and the toilets don’t smell in our changing rooms! Exeter have done very well on the field this year and I don’t think their success should be taken away by a stupid comment from a guy whom, until this week, I had never heard of."

Irish’s Booth names unchanged team to face Wasps

Posted on Apr 1, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

London Irish head coach Toby Booth has named an unchanged side from the team that beat Exeter last weekend for Sunday’s game against London Wasps in the Aviva Premiership (Kick-off 3pm).

London Irish head coach, Toby Booth said: "We played some great rugby last weekend against Exeter and want to build on it in our performance against Wasps on Sunday. With four games remaining we are still well in the hunt for a play-off position and we’ll be going all out for the win on Saturday to keep us well and truly in the mix.”

London Irish team to face London Wasps

15. Delon Armitage*; 14. Topsy Ojo*; 13. Elvis Seveali’i*; 12. Seilala Mapusua*; 11. Tom Homer; 10. Daniel Bowden; 9. Paul Hodgson*; 1. Clarke Dermody (captain)*; 2. James Buckland; 3. Faan Rautenbach*; 4. Nick Kennedy*; 5. Bob Casey*; 6. Jamie Gibson; 7. Steffon Armitage*; 8. George Stowers*

Replacements: 16. David Paice; 17. Alex Corbisiero*; 18. Paulica Ion*; 19. Gary Johnson; 20. Richard Thorpe; 21. Adam Thompstone; 22. Ryan Lamb; 23. Darren Allinson

* Denotes international

Head Coach: Toby Booth; Attack Coach: Mike Catt; Defence Coach: Dave Ellis

Nadolo out to impress

Posted on Jan 31, 2011 in Rugby News

Having wreaked havoc in the French Top 14 this season with Bourgoin, Exeter Chiefs new signing Nemani Nadolo is now hoping to do similar in the Aviva Premiership Rugby having finally sealed his move across the Channel.

The Fijian powerhouse, who stands at 6ft 5ins and weighs in at 19st 5lbs, touched down in Devon on Saturday and watched on as his new club brushed aside Leicester Tigers 35-10 in their latest LV= Cup encounter.

The formalities of Nadolo’s switch to Sandy Park were completed over the weekend and the 23-year-old – who has penned an 18-month deal – is now aiming to get involved with his new team-mates as quickly as possible.

“I can’t wait to get involved in the English Premiership, I’ve heard a lot of good things,” said the Fijian international. “It’s a fresh start for me and my career and hopefully coming here will benefit me for future honours.

“I’ve signed for 18 months so I’ve got the rest of this season and next year and I can’t wait to get out there.”

Head coach Rob Baxter has previously hinted that he wants to get his new recruit up to speed as quickly as possible. Indeed, the former Waratahs star could find himself thrown into the fray as early as this weekend when the Chiefs travel to Newcastle Falcons in their final group game in the LV= Cup.

For Nadolo, a trip to the North East will be nothing new as he has already visited Kingston Park with Bourgoin in the Amlin Challenge Cup.

He said: “I played at Newcastle in the Challenge Cup for Bourgoin so it’ll be familiar for me up there. I can’t wait to get involved with the boys, get to know them properly and get into training. If I get picked at the weekend I’ll be relishing it and fingers crossed Rob (Baxter) puts me in the 23. I can’t control that one.”

With fellow Fijians Josh Matavesi and Sireli Naqelevuki already at the club, Nadolo – who grew up as a youngster in Australia – already has some familiar faces to help with his settling in process.

“One of the biggest factors in me moving over here was Sireli, I’m good mates with some of the Fijian boys and I’m sure I’m going to enjoy it.”

However, the chance to also test himself in the physical world of English rugby’s top flight was something Nadolo was keen to try out.

He added: “Growing up in Queensland we followed a lot of English Premier League, more so than French rugby,” he said. “It’s unreal to be here now. I’ve followed it since I was a young boy, Saracens was the team I supported because they had a Fiji half-back in Moses Rauluni.

“The physicality of it is pretty impressive. I remember playing Exeter in the Challenge Cup and that was the most physical game I have played in Europe. Being in this competition will toughen me up physically as well as mentally. I’ve seen a lot and I’ve heard a lot of good things about it and I can’t wait to get involved.”

He continued: “Coming here was not so much about finances but more about the opportunity, coming into a competition like this where it’s physical. No disrespect to the French but there was a language barrier there and coming here I can understand more and learn more.

“I can’t wait to play here. Being in an environment like this the sky’s the limit and it’s up to me to put it in. I’ve come here with the ambition of being in the 23 but there are good wingers here – I watched the game last week and saw Matt Jess score two tries. My spot is not going to be given to me and that’s what I love about the English Premiership, you know you have to prove yourself to get your spot.”

One man hoping to bring the best out of Nadolo on the big stage is Chiefs’ assistant coach Ali Hepher, who has welcomed his arrival.

However, Hepher warned breaking into the Exeter starting XV will be no formality, stating: “With the guys performing that well it’s going to be tough for anyone coming in, but he’s got qualities to bring to the club.

“It will be great to work with him one-on-one, there are certain things we can hopefully improve straight away, but he also brings massive assets to the table.”