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Bath sign 5 to academy including son of Martin Offiah and U18 captain
Bath have confirmed the signing of five players to their senior academy, including Tyler Offiah, son of rugby league legend Martin, as reported in Fissler Confidential.
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The winger Offiah is one of three former London Irish players to join Bath, alongside hooker Kepu Tuipulotu and centre Charlie Griffin, who has played for Saracens this season.
Dragons and Wales U18 fullback Jack Woods and Bath academy product and England U18 captain Connor Treacey complete the quintet.
Woods is not the only Welsh-qualified player joining, as Tuipulotu also qualifies having been born in Wales. The Harrow School pupil has represented and captained England U18, while his sister Sisilia represents Wales Women. He also qualifies for Tonga, but has bizarrely not yet qualified to play for England’s senior team. There is likely to be a tug-of-war in the coming years over who he represents.
Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan said after signing the players: “We are thrilled to welcome these five talented individuals to our Senior Academy.
“They have already showcased immense talent and dedication at every stage of their development, and we believe they have the potential to make a significant impact on the future of our club.
“We take great pride in our academy system and the role it plays in nurturing young talent.
“These signings are a testament to their hard work and also that of the team here at Bath Rugby in identifying them as having the potential to be amongst the next generation of Bath Rugby stars.
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“On behalf of everyone at Bath Rugby, we extend our congratulations to Charlie, Tyler, Connor, Kepu, and Jack and look forward to supporting them as they embark on this exciting next chapter of their rugby careers.
England U18 head coach Jonathan Pendlebury recently explained to RugbyPass ahead of the U18s Six Nations festival how Tyler Offiah compares to his father, who was one of the most prolific try scorers Great Britain has ever seen in rugby league, and even had a brief dalliance in rugby union with Wasps.
Tyler was part of the 26-player England U18 squad, which was captained by Treacey.
“They like scoring tries, yeah,” Pendlebury said.
“I think, yeah, just similar in that he [Tyler] likes playing rugby with a smile on his face. I remember watching his dad play in all those Challenge Cup fixtures that always used to be on the BBC and he was in some pretty dominant sides in that era.
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“So you have got a young man who is trying to find his own way in a different sport and certainly a different era. But yeah, young Tyler is working hard.
“He had a little bit of a setback where he picked up a knock but then he has come back into the squad with us and hopefully, just like all the other guys, is in a position to express himself and just enjoy it and maximise the opportunity they have got with us.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Not sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
226 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
226 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
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