The Championship club that can boast a total of 10 ex-players in current Six Nations squads
Three former Hartpury academy products have been named in Six Nations squads, bringing to ten the number of past players competing for a starting spot in the Guinness Six Nations Championship.
Louis Rees-Zammit, Alex Craig and Billy Burns are set to become the latest Hartpury alumni to play international rugby. Louis has been named in the 35-man Wales squad for the first time, while Alex and Billy were called up to the Scotland and Ireland squads respectively, ahead of the start of the Six Nations on Saturday.
All three players studied a Level 3 Extended Diploma Sport (Performance and Excellence) Rugby as well as being members of the Junior Rugby Academy at Hartpury. The rugby pathway at Hartpury – a RFU University Partner – means that alongside their studies, students can play for Hartpury College, then Hartpury University and its Championship club Hartpury University RFC.
More than 200 Hartpury alumni have played international rugby or signed professional contracts around the world. Wayne Thompson, Manager of the Junior Rugby Academy at Hartpury, said: “I think Hartpury is unique in the sense that we’ve got a platform for college rugby, university rugby and Championship rugby all on one site.
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As well as Louis, Alex and Billy, Hartpury alumni with more experience on the international stage have been named in the Six Nations squads – Ross Moriarty (Wales), Jonny May and Ellis Genge (both England), and Seb Negri and Callum Braley (Italy).
Former Hartpury University RFC players Adam Hastings (Scotland) and Jake Polledri (Italy) have also been named in their respective Six Nations squads.
Having worked with them all, Wayne said he was delighted that Louis, Alex and Billy now had an opportunity to join the illustrious roll of honour of Hartpury alumni by playing international rugby.
Still only 18, Louis has recently signed a long-term deal at Gloucester after becoming the club’s youngest ever Premiership player, its youngest ever player in a European match, the youngest player ever to score a hat-trick in the Premiership, and winning the December award for Premiership player of the month.
“Louis is one of those players that was able to step up reasonably quickly into the senior game through his speed and athleticism when he came here at 16,” said Wayne.
“I don’t think it’s any surprise what he has achieved at Gloucester, but the fact he has achieved it so quickly has caught a few people by surprise.
“A lot of that is down to opportunity – to potentially play AASE rugby for Hartpury, being involved with an academy such as Gloucester, and selection for the Gloucester first team due to injuries to other players.
“He has taken those opportunities and done extremely well.
“Alex is a prime example of someone really benefiting from our rugby pathway, spending two years in our Under-18 Academy, playing for the BUCS team, and being signed to the Academy at Gloucester having learned his trade within our system.
“Then he played a full season in the Championship, so he found that next level, then stepped into the Premiership.
“Billy played for our under-18s side and signed to Gloucester Academy but used our Saturday side as a means to develop, before pushing on.
“Our pathway is about pushing players to the best of their ability. For some, that is going to be international rugby, for others that is about being a very good Championship player.
“But it’s about doing the best by our players, off the pitch as well as on it through our dual career pathway.”
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“We have a fluid pathway for players to progress, alongside links with Premiership academies and regional academies in Wales.
“So in terms of placing players at the right level at the right time, I think that’s why you see so many players progress into professional rugby from Hartpury, be it through the whole of our pathway or finding exit routes at different points.
“What also helps set Hartpury apart is the access that our students have to outstanding facilities and specialist coaches.
“Those specialist coaches cross over from our college programme to our university programme, and university to our Championship side, so you get reference to the same coaches all the way through.
“It means you can receive a five-year development pathway while being in education and graduate from the Hartpury model with, hopefully, a career in rugby alongside a degree.
“Providing students with access to the dual career pathway is a really important part of what we do.
“The Rugby Players Association are now pushing it and I think more players at 16 to 18 are realising that they should get something behind them in terms of academic qualifications.
“What we also do well at Hartpury is trying to be as flexible as possible with the degree, diploma and A-level courses that students can do, so they can combine different subject areas, such as agriculture, with their rugby.
“It means our students can fully capture a broad range of academic disciplines, which they may not be able to do elsewhere.
“People recognise that Hartpury is a great educational establishment alongside rugby and that’s a really big draw.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Kok 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🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
84 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
2 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to comments