Gloucester boost second row options with signing of James Hudson

Posted on Mar 19, 2013 in Gloucester

Gloucester Rugby have announced that Newcastle Falcons lock, James Hudson, will move to Kingsholm ahead of the 2013-14 season.

31 year old Hudson will move south after four years with the Falcons, during which time he has established himself as one of the first names on the team sheet and a real leader, captaining the side for two seasons.

He started his career at Bath Rugby, then moved along the M4 to London Irish where his stay included a start in the 2008-9 Premiership Final, before his move to Newcastle.

As well as making well in excess of 100 Premiership appearances, he has also been capped at England Saxons level.

A renowned lineout expert, he will be a valuable addition to the Gloucester first team squad from next season according to Director of Rugby Nigel Davies.

“I’m delighted that James has agreed to join Gloucester. He’s a proven Premiership performer and a very shrewd lineout operator.

“He’s also very mobile for a big man, which will suit the way we try and play the game.

“He will also bring experience and leadership qualities to the squad, which will be valuable assets. I’m very much looking forward to him arriving for preseason.”

Meanwhile, Hudson admitted that leaving Newcastle after four seasons had not been an easy decision to make, but that he’s excited about the next step in his playing career.

“I’ve enjoyed my time hugely with the Falcons. They’ve been a massive part of my career, and I’m fully committed to playing my part in helping them regain their Premiership status before I leave.

“However, I felt that now was the time for a new challenge. I’ve always enjoyed playing at Kingsholm as an away player, it’s a fabulous stadium with a passionate crowd.

“And talking to Nigel Davies, I was excited about his plans for the future for Gloucester and my potential role within that. It was something that I decided I definitely wanted to be part of.

“My priority now though is to finish what we’ve started at the Falcons and, hopefully, I’ll be facing Newcastle as a Gloucester player in the Premiership next season.”

Harlequins strengthens front row resources

Posted on Jan 29, 2013 in Harlequins

Harlequins has strengthened its front row resources for next season with the signing of Paul Doran-Jones, the England prop forward, on a two year contract.

The 27-year-old joins from Northampton Saints where he has been playing for the past two seasons.

Born in Enfield, North London, to an Irish mother and English father, Paul was educated at Wellington College in Berkshire before going to Ireland to join the Leinster Academy. His rugby education continued at London Welsh and Gloucester before moving to Franklin’s Gardens.

He played for England at Under 18 and Ireland at Under 19 and 21 levels before finally declaring for England.  He made his international debut against Argentina during the 2009 Autumn Internationals and has since made three further appearances including being part of the team that won the Six Nations Championship in 2011. He was a member of the England squad that toured South Africa in June 2012.

Announcing the signing today (29th January), Harlequins Director of Rugby, Conor O’Shea said, “While we were disappointed to lose James Johnston we recognise the need to have an experienced player to come in to supplement the existing tight head talent we have at the club in Will Collier and Kyle Sinckler. With that in mind we are very fortunate to be able to bring in a player of Paul’s ability.

“Not only is Paul talented, at his age he will only get better. He comes from a fabulous club and has been coached by one of the best forwards coaches in the country so I have no doubt he will add greatly to what we have at Harlequins. We look forward to welcoming him to The Stoop at the start of next season.”

Commenting on his move to the current Aviva Premiership champions, Paul Doran-Jones said, “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to play at the best club in the Premiership. The team play with smiles on their faces, a sure sign that they enjoy their style of rugby. I’m looking forward to being part of that, to improving my game and to working with the coaches and players to contribute to further success for Harlequins. In the meantime, I’m committed to doing my best for everyone at Northampton Saints and helping the club to a great finish to the season.”

Player Profile at a Glance

Name:                                      Paul Doran-Jones (27)

Position:                                   Prop forward

International caps:                 England (4)

Date of Birth:                            2nd May 1985

Former Clubs:                         London Welsh, Gloucester, Northampton Saints

Height:                                      1.88m (6’ 2”)

Weight:                                     116kg (18st 3lbs)

Teague to captain England Counties

Posted on Jan 25, 2013 in English Counties

Teague is a well-known name in rugby circles and today sees another achievement for the family as Rory Teague is named captain for the England Counties squad seeking to secure a first Counties victory on Irish soil.

The Blackheath fly half, related to British and Irish Lion Mike Teague, brings experience to the role, having represented England at U18, U19 and Students level, as well as playing for the Counties during their ground breaking 2012 summer tour to East Africa.

Teague, aged 27, will lead the side in two challenging fixtures against Ireland Club XV (February 8, Cork) and France Amateurs (February 22, Ealing Trailfinders).

“It is a great honour to represent your country at any level in any sport, and it is a big achievement for all the players who have been selected,” said Teague. “To be part of the Counties legacy is something that I will cherish when my playing days are over.”

“I was ecstatic to get the call as captain.  Hopefully we can do everyone proud as a team – it is not about individuals, it is about everyone pulling together for what will be two very tough matches.”

The England Counties is formed of players from National 1 and 2, with 13 clubs represented in the current squad.  The side will meet for the first time on Wednesday February 6 ahead of their first fixture on the Friday night.

“You are playing with some of the best players in the league,” said Teague. “They have been selected on merit and everyone wants to step up their game to put in a performance worthy of wearing the England shirt.

“Never having won in Ireland is extra motivation and will add to the hype of the week.  There will be a phenomenal atmosphere in Cork, we know how passionate the Irish are about their rugby.  We are already preparing ourselves mentally and physically for the intensity of international rugby.  Our aim is to get to know each other and create our own team culture as quickly as possible.”

The fixtures mirror the England Senior schedule with the Counties matches on the Friday evening of the Ireland and France weekends.

“It is definitely on your mind that you are part of a bigger picture,” acknowledges Teague.  “There is a great feeling surrounding England Rugby after the win against New Zealand. For all supporters that was a special day.

“To be part of an England team during an exciting period for the sport in this country, is a real privilege.  We want to make sure that we contribute to the positive direction of England Rugby.  The environment Stuart Lancaster has created within the senior team has had an impact at all levels of the game and is something we can learn from and draw upon as a squad.”

Teague’s grandfather Colin played for Gloucester, as did Mike and Rory is his early career but it is Mike’s achievements on the international stage which have been inspirational.

“Mike’s representative honours and career speak for themselves,” said Teague. “I really look up to him and admire what he achieved, especially knowing that it is not easy to accomplish what he did, particularly in the amateur days.”

Since the start of his career at Gloucester in 2003, Teague has played for Tarbes Pyrenees Rugby, FC Grenoble and Cinderford RFC where he was the league’s top points scorer for the 2011/2012 season.

Now at Blackheath, Teague combines playing with coaching and works with rugby scholarship students at Harrow School, mentors at London Wasps Academy in a kicking capacity and supports rugby development in Lewisham schools.

“I enjoy the diversity in the roles I have.  There is some real talent out there and it helps being able to relate to the young players going through a similar process to the one I went through.

“For some of the guys in Lewisham, the contact element is a release for them, many have never played rugby before but have real potential and introducing them to rugby’s core values and discipline is very rewarding.”

England Counties Squad to play Ireland Club XV in the Ulster Bank International:

Forwards: Dave Allen*^ (Blackheath); David Dickinson *^(Tynedale); Tom Fidler (Cambridge); Mark George (Stourbridge); Matt Hall*^ (Blaydon); James Inglis (Esher); Billy Johnson* (Old Albanian); Robbie Kalbraier*^ (Blaydon); Sam Shires*^ (Ealing); Ollie Stedman (Tynedale); Will Warden (Richmond); Ben West (Cinderford)

Backs: Jack Adams (Cinderford); Lewis Barker (Coventry); Scott Barrow (Fylde); Nev Edwards (Rosslyn Park); Chris Elder (Esher); Matt Heeks (Rosslyn Park); Peter Hodgkinson*^ (Ealing); Will Hurrell (Stourbridge); Ollie Marchon (Old Albanian); Rory Teague* (Blackheath).

* Previous ECXV Cap (8 players)                

^ Played v Ireland at Preston 2012 (6 players)

Tynedale prop, David Dickinson comes into the squad in place of Alex Loney (Fylde) who misses out due to injury.

England Counties Spring International Fixtures:

England Counties v Ireland Club XV (Friday 8 February) Cork, Ireland
England Counties v France Amateurs (Friday 22 February) Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club

Jewson and Glaws part company

Posted on Jan 15, 2013 in Gloucester

One of the longest running sponsorship deals in English club rugby will finish at the end of the 2012-13 season as Gloucester Rugby and Jewson part company.

Gloucester Rugby have been proud to call Jewson their main club sponsor since 2007.

The UK’s leading supplier of sustainable timber and building materials joined forces with Gloucester, as the Aviva Premiership club prepared to unveil its magnificent new South Stand, now called the Mira Showers Stand, in time for the 2007-8 season.

The ensuing years have seen the partnership go from strength to strength, as Gloucester have enjoyed one of the most exciting periods in their history, with the Jewson logo proudly adorning the players’ shirts.

Jewson have also been an integral part of the match day experience at Kingsholm, through initiatives such as the Jewson Crossbar Challenge and Jewson Match Day Camps for young rugby supporters.

The first Jewson branch opened in 1836, and Gloucester Rugby were delighted to help promote Jewson’s 175thanniversary in 2011 by featuring in a celebratory rugby film which gained viral status online with over 200,000 viewings.

However, Gloucester’s new Managing Director, Stephen Vaughan, today confirmed that Jewson will not be renewing their sponsorship at the end of 2012-13.

“Jewson have been fantastic partners for us here at Gloucester Rugby over the past six seasons. They’ve been terrific to work with, and played a big role in the club’s development in recent times

“Although it’s sad that they will no longer be our main sponsor from next season, we’re parting on good terms and wish them every success in the future.”

Vaughan confirmed that negotiations are already underway with several potential new main sponsors, and that it’s a good time for interested parties to become involved with the club.

“Gloucester Rugby is one of the most famous clubs in rugby union, and we’re in a strong position on and off the field.

“Nigel Davies and the squad are delivering a strong season on the pitch, and I’m delighted to report that things are looking good for the club commercially as well.

“We are about to unveil financials which show that we have increased our profit year on year, and we’re one of only three Aviva Premiership clubs whose attendances have risen this season.

“We are also still in the running to host fixtures in Rugby World Cup 2015, the only rugby union club ground on the long list, and have successfully hosted a number of international fixtures here at Kingsholm in recent times.

“The future here at Gloucester Rugby is very bright indeed.”

Chiefs looking to cut the error count

Posted on Jan 4, 2013 in Exeter Chiefs

A New Year begins in earnest for the Exeter Chiefs tomorrow and assistant coach Ali Hepher is hopeful his side will get 2013 off to a bang by seeing off visiting Northampton Saints at Sandy Park (3pm).

After a Christmas period which could – and probably should – have brought a sack-full of points from clashes with Gloucester and Bath, the Devon club ended up more with leftovers, rather than the rewards their hard-working efforts merited.

The boot of England international Freddie Burns ultimately denied the Chiefs in a ding-dong battle at Kingsholm, before a late penalty try last week ensured Bath headed home with a share of the spoils.

Although winless in both clashes, Hepher insists the mood within the Chiefs camp remains as buoyant as ever, especially as this weekend’s encounter is the last in the top flight for a month.

"Saturday is a big game for sure, but it’s one we are certainly looking forward to," said Hepher. "It’s our last game in the Premiership for a while, so we want to try and make sure we have some momentum to take back into the competition in February. We’ve got four weeks of Cup action to come in both the Heineken and LV=, but the Premiership remains our priority.

"That’s why we want to get a good performance in this week because if we do, then it will set us up nicely in terms of our position and put us in the race for one of those top four spots."

Currently Exeter are seventh in the standings with Northampton a point and a place above them. However, fourth-placed Gloucester are just three points ahead of the Chiefs with Wasps also in the mix following their latest win at London Welsh a week ago.

As a former Saint himself, Hepher knows all too well of the qualities Northampton will bring to the West-country and with the visitors smarting following a narrow defeat to Saracens, this latest match-up promises to be a belter.

"They were very unlucky last week and could easily have come away with a win," admitted Hepher, who was a Heineken Cup winner with the Saints in 2000. "Any side who goes to Ulster and wins is no bad side. We know they will be tough; they’ll be strong up front; physical and that we will have to front up from the outset. At the same time, we are focused mainly on ourselves and making sure we do our jobs right.

"It’s exciting for me, of course it is, simply because of my links with the club. I’ll no doubt get a bit of banter from back home and I still have a lot of friends at the club, but equally it’s another game and you prepare in the same way as you would any other game. We’ve had a good, full training week this week and looking at things we feel fully prepared for the game."

As always the Chiefs have dissected the threats of the opposition in some detail, whilst at the same time performing their only series of tweaks to their own game plan.

And Hepher admits that although certain issues were flagged up in recent weeks, overall the Exeter coaching staff are content with the progress being made out on the pitch.

"We are pleased with the way things are going," he added. "At the moment we are top of table for tries scored and we’re playing some really good rugby. We are attacking in a different way at the minute, but equally we change our attack week by week, depending on opposition and conditions.

"Looking at our games the tactical battles we’ve been very good at. We dominated territory at the weekend against Bath and we had dominance in possession for long spells, so all the stats virtually went for us. The only one that probably didn’t was that we gave away too many penalties and that allowed Bath in at the end.

"We’ve talked about discipline and driving it down a bit, but the good thing is that not too many of those penalties were crazy ones and we can address most of them. The big thing is that we look to cut them down this week and take the pressure off ourselves and put the pressure on the opposition. Other than that, the rest of our game is in good shape."

Ahead of kick-off the Chiefs have been forced to tinker slightly with their starting line-up, including replacing former Northampton prop Brett Sturgess who broke his arm in last weekend’s 12-12 draw with Bath.

Into the number one jersey comes Ben Moon, whilst alongside him at hooker Neil Clark also starts in place of Simon Alcott. Other changes to the pack see Tom Johnson and Ben White recalled into the back-row, whilst James Hanks steps up to partner Dean Mumm in the Exeter engine room. Behind, the solitary change sees Ian Whitten brought into the midfield in place of Jason Shoemark.

On the bench, there is a first Premiership involvement for hooker Jack Yeandle, Welsh international Craig Mitchell returns for the first time since rupturing his bicep in the away defeat at London Welsh back in September, and Fijian force Sireli Naqelevuki is also included.

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