ACADEMY
Exeter Chiefs have been awarded the licence to run the RFU’s England academy based in the South West.Formerly known as the South West England Rugby Academy or SWERA, the Exeter Chiefs England Rugby Academy started operating in July. Exeter Chiefs beat bids from Plymouth Albion and Cornish Pirates to win the rights to the licence for the next eight years.
The Exeter Chiefs England Rugby Academy will be run across three sites: Sandy Park, Ivybridge College and Truro College. Academy manager Robin Cowling will be based in Truro with his assistant manager Rob Gibson based in Ivybridge. Players between the ages of 16 to 18 will train at these two sites with those aged 18 and above training at Sandy Park.
The academy will be instrumental in developing the elite players from these age groups to produce quality club and England players of the future.
Exeter Chiefs’ chief executive Tony Rowe said: “We are delighted to have won the licence to host the South West’s rugby academy. We are an ambitious club in terms of the success we are constantly striving towards both on and off the pitch but we also want to help nurture the talent that obviously exists in our part of the country. This club knows it is imperative these young players get the support, guidance and coaching they need to achieve their aims.
“I have no doubt that our facilities, personnel and professional attitude helped us in being awarded this licence and we hope to repay the faith shown in us by the RFU by producing a plentiful supply of elite rugby players from Devon and Cornwall.”
Exeter Chiefs’ director of rugby Pete Drewett will oversee the academy and is ideally suited to the role having worked for England Rugby for 14 years culminating in two U21s Six Nations Grand Slams.
He said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity of working with clubs, coaches and young players in Cornwall and Devon to assist young ambitious players in achieving their rugby goals.
“The Guinness Premiership is full of players who started their rugby careers in the strong youth sections and schools throughout Devon and Cornwall and we aim to build on this success.”
Stuart Lancaster, the recently appointed head of elite player development in the RFU Elite Rugby Department, said: “I understand that it was a competitive pitch process for the South West academy business and all of those who took part in the process should be congratulated for the high quality of their presentations.
“I’m delighted that we will be working with Exeter Chiefs and look forward to helping them produce some quality age group players from the South West, which has been one of the areas of the country that has a proven track record in producing quality players.”
ACADEMY NEWS
By Academy manager Rob Gibson
Exeter Chiefs England Rugby Academy players are well in to their season and performing well at various levels.
Ben Moon has had his first start for the Chiefs' first team against Sedgley Park and marked the occasion with a try. More importantly, his performance was solid and attracted plaudits from many watching. That will were sure be the first of many Chiefs starts.
Ben is in line for England U20s honours this year and working hard to achieve that goal. This week will see Ben at Bisham Abbey working under the guidance of the U20s coaches along with Graham Rowntree.
Also attending camps at Bisham Abbey this week is young U18s lock Addison Lockely. The England U18s conference side play London Academies on Friday, October 24. Also playing on that day, is a regional Academy U19s side against their French counterparts. Josh Ma’tavesi and Michael Stubble are representing the Academy in that fixture.
Josh and Michael played for the United side that defeated Launceston second XV last week. They were joined by Jack Andrew and Tom Cowan Dickie. All making really good marks in the senior squad debuts and providing much promise for the clubs development programme.
Both Academy U18s bases at Truro and Ivybridge Community College continue to play in the AASE (Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence) league and playing well. Truro was unlucky not to qualify for the final in the prestigious St Joseph's tournament on the weekend of October 18/19 missing out to eventual winners Filton College from Bristol. Both base teams competed in the top pools on day two of that tournament.
Overall, the youngsters in the club are emulating the senior counterpart and providing much promise for the club future fortunes.
