David Humphreys quits Gloucester just 18 days after Johan Ackermann's troubling exit
David Humphreys is leaving Gloucester at the end of June after serving six years as the Premiership club’s director of rugby. His decision to leave Kingsholm comes just 18 days following the surprise exit of head coach Johan Ackermann, who is moving to Japan.
There had been rumblings that the sudden departure of the South African sparked a behind the scenes power play at a club where Lance Bradley only came in as CEO last summer, and this has now resulted in the decision by Humphreys to leave behind Gloucester whom he joined in June 2014 from Ulster.
Humphreys said: “It has been a huge honour to have played a small part in the history of this great club. I have loved every minute of my time here and have been very fortunate to work with great coaches and support staff, and with great players.
“Over that time, we have built the foundations for a successful club, both on and off the pitch, and last season’s third place finish in the Premiership was a reflection of the progress that has been made.
“However, following Johan Ackermann’s departure last month, I took some time to review my own position at Gloucester and in light of many new challenges facing professional rugby as a result of Covid-19, I felt it was the right time for me to move on and a new head coach to come in and build on the work that has been done.
“It is always difficult to leave somewhere that has become home and I will always be very grateful to everyone in the West Country for the very warm welcome they gave to both me and my family.
“In particular, a huge personal thanks to Martin St Quinton for his friendship and encouragement throughout my time at Gloucester, and for his support in building a Gloucester playing squad to be a competitive force in the Premiership.
“The Gallagher Premiership is a wonderful competition and I will miss the excitement building up to every game at Kingsholm.
“When I left Ulster I didn’t think there were many places to rival the atmosphere at the Kingspan Stadium, but from beating Sale in my first game at Kingsholm, I realised what a special place it is to play rugby when you’re wearing a Cherry & White shirt. This is entirely due to the incredible Gloucester supporters and I thank you all for your support over the last few seasons.
“Before leaving at the end of the month, I will continue to work closely with Martin, Lance Bradley, and the senior management team, to support the recruitment of a new head coach and to help ensure an easy transition back into training for the playing squad and staff.”
Chairman St Quinton added: ”It’s been a real pleasure getting to know David during his time at Gloucester, both from a professional and a personal point of view. I’m hugely appreciative of his unstinting hard work, commitment and loyalty.
“Over the last few weeks we’ve discussed the future of the club going forward, and I fully respect his decision that now is the time for him to move on. I wish him all the very best in his future endeavours and he will always be welcome at Kingsholm.”
CEO Bradley said: Lance Bradley: ”David has made a tremendous contribution to Gloucester over the last six years. So much of what he does goes on behind the scenes, but those of us who have had the pleasure of working with him know just how much he’s contributed. We all wish him every success in whatever he decides to do next.
EXCLUSIVE
'What is the next cycle going to be? Will it be the same old, same old here we go again?' – @Phil_Vickery talks to @chrisjonespress about the state of Gloucester Rugby https://t.co/ldVr89QgZE
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 18, 2020
“We are facing a time of unprecedented change in professional rugby in this country and across the world. At Gloucester, we are determined to be at the forefront of anticipating those changes and making sure we are in the best position to face the new challenges ahead. David has been a key player over the last six years, but we will use his departure to move into an exciting new era.”
The search for a new head coach will now be lead by Bradley, with the club expecting to announce an appointment and the new coaching structure in early July.
Comments on RugbyPass
Bulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
4 Go to comments