Two more sign on at Goldington Road

Posted on May 23, 2012 in Bedford

Just a week after announcing the capture of Premiership duo Tom Armes and Ben Gulliver, Bedford Blues are delighted to announce two further signings for the next Championship campaign.

With two props leaving the club at the conclusion of the 2011/12 season, the Blues have moved quickly to capture Newcastle front row star Darren Fearn who has been with the Falcons since 2010.

Fearn, 23, was born and raised in Yorkshire and started his playing career with local side Scarborough before moving to Newcastle to study at Northumbria University. After playing for Blaydon in the 2008/9 season and picking up an England Student cap, Fearn was awarded a full time deal with the Falcons which coincided with his studies.

At six foot three inches tall and tipping the scales at the 20 stone mark, Fearn is certain to add plenty of beef to the Bedford front row next term.

Also signing for Bedford this week is impressive Esher fly half Mark Atkinson who has quite the rugby CV despite being just 22 years old.

Atkinson, who can also play at inside centre, started his career with Sale before turning out for Sedgley Park, Rosslyn Park and Wasps prior to joining Esher last season where he put in a scintillating first half performance against Bedford in September only to go off injured at the interval.

Having picked up caps for England Under 18s and Under 20s, Atkinson will provide plenty of competition for the much sought after Bedford Blues number ten jersey.

Commenting on the signing, Blues Director of Rugby Mike Rayer said: “It has been a busy couple of weeks for us at Goldington Road but we are delighted to be able to welcome Darren and Mark to the club.

“Darren is a good, young prop who has Premiership and European experience and will add plenty of momentum to the Blues scrum. Anyone who was at Moseley Road last season will know what Mark can do given the tiniest amount of space and I look forward to seeing him in action in a Blues shirt soon.”

Mark Anscombe Appointed New Ulster Rugby Head Coach

Posted on Mar 9, 2012 in Irish Rugby, Ulster

Ulster Rugby today confirmed that Mark Anscombe has been appointed as Head Coach from season 2012-13 on a two year contract.

Mark has just finished a three year term as Head Coach of the Auckland ITM Cup side and has combined that role with a number of positions in the very successful NZ U20 squad. Last year, Mark was Head Coach as they again triumphed in the Junior World Championships in Italy.

“It has been a long and detailed process but we’re now delighted to confirm that Mark will be joining us next season.” commented Ulster’s Director of Rugby David Humphreys.

“We all believe that he has the experience, ability and knowledge to build on the success of the last 2 years.

We were all very impressed with Mark during the interview process, he know what it takes to get the best out of players and has an in-depth understanding of the game. He has strong leadership qualities and will challenge both the players and staff in ways some of them haven’t been challenged before.

As well as an experienced Head Coach, he is a high quality technical forwards coach with a proven track record of delivering competitive, physical forward packs. He will be instrumental in developing some of the young forwards already in our system to ensure they become key players for both Ulster and Ireland."

Mark Anscombe commented;

“I’ve been keeping an eye on Ulster for a while now and I’m very impressed with the plans and what’s happening at Ulster Rugby and I’ve very excited about the prospect at being involved in that.

It goes without saying that the job will present me with an exciting challenge. Ulster have been developing over the past few years, they’ve had some new players come in to strengthen the squad so the foundations are there but there’s a lot of work to be done in terms of moving on to the next stage and that will be a challenge for me and for all of us."

Anscombe is familiar with both John Afoa and Jared Payne who he has worked with at Auckland;

“They’re both good men with a lot to offer. In the short time that John has been at Ulster he’s already impressed the rugby public there. Jared was very unfortunate with the Achilles injury but I’m sure if he had remained fit they would have been singing his praises also.

David (Humphreys) has recruited well so far, he’s brought in quality people and I’m looking forward to working with them.”

Anscombe (54), who is married with three children, will arrive in Belfast on 1st June.

Cueto talks about 50th cap

Posted on Mar 17, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Speaking ahead of his 50th cap against Ireland on Saturday, Sharks captain Mark Cueto looked back on how it all began.

He said, “I remember sitting in my hotel room at Pennyhill Park in 2004 wondering whether I had done enough to get selected and Sharks media manager Dave Swanton rang me and tipped me off that I had been picked! Swanny had been given the heads up and we laugh about it to this day that he knew before I did!”

Looking back over his 49 games Mark said, “The highlights have got to be my debut against Canada, scoring a hat trick against Italy, beating Australia in their own back yard and the World Cup Final in 2007.”

Was it a try in 2007?  Mark laughed and said, “Of course it was and I still get asked about it today. In fact the other week I was filling my car up with petrol in Sale and someone shouted across the forecourt that it was definitely a try……and that’s nearly four years on!”

On this weekend and the rest of the season Mark said, “ We have prepared well for the game in Ireland but it won’t be easy. Then next week I return to Sale Sharks and we have a big game against Leeds Carnegie at Edgeley Park. It will be great to see the lads again and we have four of our last six games at home including the big one at the Reebok on 16th April. The Reebok may not be our own ground but we will have a biggest ever ‘home crowd’ cheering us on.”

Odejobi set for England Sevens debut in Las Vegas

Posted on Feb 11, 2011 in Rugby News

Former England Under 20 wing Mark Odejobi is set to make his England Sevens debut in Las Vegas this weekend.

The 23-year-old from London has been called up for the USA Sevens to replace Isoa Damudamu, who returned home after last weekend’s NZI Sevens in Wellington for treatment to a shoulder injury.

Odejobi joins an England side riding high at the top of the HSBC Sevens World Series after one tournament win and two runners-up places in the first three stages of the eight event series.

"Mark’s played in a Junior World Championship final on the wing, played for England’s age group teams and has trained with us for the last year," said head coach Ben Ryan.

"It’s a great opportunity for him to establish himself and he’s a powerful player."

Odejobi, who has played for Esher this season in the RFU Championship, joined the side earlier this week for a key stage in the series and a unique tournament.

England triumphed in the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens but were beaten in George and Wellington by New Zealand, going down 29-14 in last weekend’s final, something Ryan’s side want to make amends for in Nevada in front of a live NBC TV audience.

On Saturday, they face Guyana (5.24pm), France (9.40pm) and Argentina (12.51am Sunday) in Pool A on the opening day with Kenya the likely quarter final opponents (5am Sunday) if they top the group.

"Everything’s different in Vegas," said Ryan. "We play with a different ball on a narrow pitch and with four games [rather than three] on day one but we knew about all that in advance and it’s important that we maintain the consistency we’ve shown so far this season.

"New Zealand have come back at us over the last two legs and have had the upper hand so now we want to rewind and get back to where we were in Dubai."

England do have the advantage of being led by points machine Ben Gollings, who is on the threshold of another staggering sevens landmark in Vegas.

The captain has a world record 2,495 series points – including 210 tries – banked since his series debut in 1999 and should go through the 2,500 barrier on the opening day.

A measure of achievement is how far ahead of the opposition Gollings now is. In second place is the Fijian legend Waisale Serevi, nearly 1,200 points behind.

England Sevens
Greg Barden (Royal Navy)
John Brake (England Sevens)
Dan Caprice (England Sevens)
Chris Cracknell (England Sevens)
Ben Gollings (England Sevens)
Simon Hunt (Birmingham & Solihull)
Nick Royle (England Sevens)
Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby)
Mark Odejobi (Unattached)
Tom Powell (England Sevens)
James Rodwell (England Sevens)
Mathew Turner (England Sevens)

Bees aiming to do the double against Bristol

Posted on Feb 7, 2011 in Rugby News

In their second home Championship game in five days, Birmingham & Solihull will be looking for their second consecutive league win when they face Bristol at Damson Park this Sunday (6th February, Kick Off 3pm).

The Bees will also be aiming to “do the double” over their West Country visitors, having recorded a memorable 33-35 victory when the two sides met at the Memorial Stadium at the end of October. On that day, in his first game back for the Bees, the boot of fly half Mark Woodrow proved to be crucial with a successful conversion of Dan Sanderson’s last minute try giving his side an improbable victory.

Woodrow was in good kicking form last Wednesday night too, with a penalty and two conversions out of three helping Bees to secure a hard fought victory against Rotherham Titans in a “topsy-turvy” game. The Bees were 3-10 down at half time, but two tries by Semisi Taulava and a great individual touchdown by winger Ollie Grove gave the home side a 25-10 advantage with 15 minutes to go. Rotherham then mounted a spirited come back, scoring two converted tries in the space of two minutes, with the Bees clinging on to run out eventual 25-24 winners.

Assistant Coach Eugene Martin has named an unchanged side for the Bristol game – “Wednesday’s result was a great achievement for the boys, putting behind us the disappointment of the Moseley game. Bristol are a good side and come into this game on the back of an impressive win against London Welsh – they will present another stern test for us as we continue to try and bring a greater consistency to our performances”.

Sunday’s game will be the first visit to Damson Park for Bristol players and supporters, although former Bees’ winger Anthony Elliott will have some knowledge of local conditions.

The Bees side to face Bristol is: 1.Rob Dugard, 2.Ross McMillan (c), 3.Leo Halavatau, 4.Semisi Taulava, 5.Adrian Griffiths, 6.Rob Connolly, 7.Jack Preece, 8.Mark Hopley, 9.Rod Petty, 10.Mark Woodrow, 11.Mitch Culpin, 12.Sam Cox, 13.Will Lawson, 14.Ollie Grove, 15.Ollie Winter.

Replacements: 16.Nglau Tau, 17.Jack Bentall, 18.Ben Gerry, 19.Adam Clayton, 20.Jimmy Williams, 21.Ross Noonan, 22.Joe Reid