Callum Braley has decided his club future is best served in Italy

After six years at Gloucester, scrum-half Callum Braley will join Guinness PRO14 side Benetton at the end of the current season.

Currently away on international duty with Italy, whom he qualifies for courtesy of his grandfather, Braley made his Six Nations bow in last Saturday’s game against Wales in Cardiff. 

First capped last summer in Italy’s World Cup warm-up matches, he was a part of the squad that competed at the World Cup in Japan.

At club level, he moved to Kingsholm in summer 2014 from Bristol. He was an England age-group international from under-16 level upwards and skippered the successful England under-20s at the 2014 Junior World Championship.

He has been a regular in the Gloucester matchday squad, making his 100th appearance in the recent Heineken Cup home win over Connacht. However, he feels the time is right for him to move to Italy to play his club rugby alongside a number of his international team-mates.

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“It’s all happened fairly quickly. I hadn’t even trained with the Italy team twelve months ago, but now I’ve been to a World Cup and played in the Six Nations.

“Having committed my international future to Italy, it makes sense to play my club rugby there and I’m very much looking forward to the new challenge. I’ve had six really enjoyable years at Gloucester. I’ve grown so much here, as a player and as a person, becoming a husband and a father and I’ve made some great friends and some fantastic memories. 

“I’ll look back on my time here fondly. It’s a club and a city that my family hold closely to our hearts and a place we now call home. It probably won’t sink in until that final home game of the season when all the departing players get to say goodbye. But, until the very last minute of my last game, I’ll be giving everything to say goodbye on a positive note.”

So grateful to be out here in Japan ?? the Energy for the Rugby World Cup is mad, can’t wait for it all to kick off #RWC2019 @Federugby pic.twitter.com/Mr75QerCS0

— Callum Braley (@CallumBraley) September 19, 2019

Director of rugby David Humphreys said it will be a shame to see Braley leave, but he completely understood his reasons for doing so.

“Callum has been a valued member of our squad over the past few seasons, not just for his performances on the pitch but also his contribution to the wider squad effort where he has played a key role in driving standards on and off the pitch.

“His dedication and hard work were rewarded in his selection for the World Cup with Italy and we were all delighted to see him starting for Italy last weekend in the Six Nations.

"I can understand there’s questions around it, it makes sense"

– @chrisjonespress reporting #WALvITA #SixNations ??https://t.co/dcCpowNsQ8

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 1, 2020

“While we’re sorry to see him leave Gloucester at the end of the season, we fully understand his reasons for moving to Italy to play for Benetton and establish himself in the Italian national team.

“Callum will still have a big role to play for the rest of this season at Gloucester and we look forward to seeing him finish his time here on a high.”

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