Confidence in Crane as winger re-signs

Posted on May 18, 2012 in Nottingham

In one scintillating passage of play winger Rhys Crane earned a contract extension with Nottingham.

The 26-year-old is the first player to pen a new deal with the Green and Whites for the 2012/13 RFU Championship, adding to the 13 players already contracted for the new campaign.

Despite enduring a nightmare season, which amounted to three cameo appearances and more than 13 months on the sidelines with injury, Crane’s potential could not be ignored.

From little more than 100 minutes of game time, between recovering from knee surgery, a broken jaw, a debut lasting just 30 seconds and a career-first red card, he still found time to convince Nottingham Director of Rugby Glenn Delaney to re-sign him.

It was his explosive impact off the bench against London Welsh in the final match of the season, putting on a big hit to win possession before crossing for a try with his first touch of the ball, which sealed it.

“He earned his contract off the bench that day. He showed us exactly what he is about, adding energy and enthusiasm to the game at a time that it was lacking on the pitch,” Delaney said.

“He showed fantastic desire to play for this club, his attitude, application and potential is everything we look for in a player.

“He is clearly a talented player who had a horrendous season with injury. That broken jaw that took him out against Esher in December isn’t the sort of start anyone wanted for him.”

With a thorough understanding of Crane’s recent injuries, Delaney didn’t hesitate in signing the athletic back.

“He is no more of a risk than any other player, he proved his fitness at the end of last season and has put those knee problems behind him,” Delaney said.

“We are not worried about what’s happened in the past, we are only concerned about what he can do for us in the future.”

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Odejobi ruled out of Marriott London Sevens

Posted on May 10, 2012 in England Sevens

England’s Mark Odejobi has been ruled out of the Marriott London Sevens after sustaining a broken bone in a foot.

And Isoa Damudamu – injured in last month’s Army v Navy Babcock Trophy match – faces knee surgery and a long spell out of the game.

Former England Under 20 wing Odejobi was injured after coming off the bench in the second half of England’s 40-7 victory over Kenya on day one at Scotstoun.

It leaves Head Coach Ben Ryan with one place to fill in the 12-man squad for the Marriott London Sevens at Twickenham this weekend.

Former captain Andy Vilk (Rugby Lions), Bristol-based Simon Hunt and newcomer Jeff Williams, a centre who played in the French Federale 1 league with RC Chateaurenard this season, are all in contention for the final spot as England aim to take another step forward after beating Australia, South Africa and Fiji before falling to champions New Zealand in the Glasgow final.

“It’s a tough break for Mark who’d come back from injury and trained hard with us – and he was only on the field for three minutes,” said Ryan.

“But we’ll go with what we’ve got and bring in one of the three who’ve been training with us  regularly.

“Andy Vilk and Simon Hunt are experienced sevens internationals who’ve played and won big tournaments with England while Jeff has impressed us with the way he’s fitted into the group in the last month.”

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Duncan Jones out for eight weeks

Posted on Mar 1, 2012 in Ospreys, Welsh Rugby

Duncan Jones has been ruled out of action after suffering a knee injury in last Friday’s RaboDirect PRO12 defeat to Ulster.

The prop was forced off the field early in the second half of the game, and following further investigation, Head Physio Chris Towers says that Jones faces a spell on the sidelines:

“Duncan suffered damage to the medial ligament of his knee” Towers confirmed.

“In terms of prognosis, we are looking at something around an eight week lay-off to allow him to heal and regain his strength and fitness to get back playing again.”

Ollie Phillips back in training with England Sevens

Posted on Oct 24, 2011 in England, English Rugby, Sevens

Former World Sevens Player of the Year Ollie Phillips is training with England again in the countdown to this season’s HSBC Sevens World Series.

Phillips, 29, captained England when they clinched the Wellington and London tournament titles in 2009, the year he claimed the IRB international award.

The wing is a free agent since leaving Stade Francais this summer is back in action after completing his rehabilitation from a knee injury.

He is training with head coach Ben Ryan’s 12 full-time Sevens players and other ‘core’ squad members like Isoa Damudamu (British Army), Marcus Watson (Saracens) and Olly Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins) ahead of the start of the series in Australia at the end of next month.

The nine-event series kicks off with three back-to-back tournaments on in Gold Coast (November 25-26), Dubai (December 3-4) and Port Elizabeth (December 10-11).

England Sevens head coach Ryan told The Rugby Paper: “Having Ollie with us adds further competition for places.

"He has seen the quality around him, and how standards have improved dramatically since he was last with us so he understands he has a fight on his hands to get into the squad.

"But he has rehabbed well from the knee injury that has kept him out since June. He was running all last week and everything is going to plan on that front. Ollie brings energy to the group and we’re delighted to have him involved again.”

Two of the full-time sevens contingent warmed up for their week’s training in Teddington in contrasting styles at the weekend.

Leading try scorer Dan Norton scored four tries for Hartpury at Shelford in National League Two – taking his tally to 10 in three games as he looks for match sharpness – while forward James Rodwell made a half-marathon appearance, running the BUPA Great Birmingham Run in 1:50:26

Rodwell and Norton interviewed in the latest RFU Podcast

Ferris making injury progress

Posted on Jul 11, 2011 in Irish Rugby, Ulster

Stephen Ferris has returned to pitch based running this week as he targets a return to playing action.

He has been undertaking a progressive running programme that was conducted by Alan McCaldin on an Alter G treadmill. The anti-gravity running machine controls the pressure exerted on the body, allowing Stephen to load his knee with up to 100% of his bodyweight.

National and Provisional Physio and Strength & Conditioning units have agreed on a planned programme for Stephen which was devised by Ulster Strength & Conditioning Coach Jonny Davis. The programme is based on a comprehensive analysis of GPS data to determine appropriate volume and intensity of sessions – Global Positioning Systems track player movements on the pitch.

Ferris has not played since picking up a knee injury in Ulster’s final Heineken Cup pool game against Aironi in January.