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London Irish statement: Ollie Hassell-Collins has joined Leicester
London Irish have confirmed that Ollie Hassell-Collins, their winger recently capped at Test level by England, is to leave at the end of the current season to join Leicester, their Gallager Premiership rivals. The 24-year-old was chosen by Steve Borthwick to start for his country in the opening two rounds of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations against Scotland and Italy before a knee injury made him unavailable for the round three trip to Wales.
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Director of rugby Declan Kidney was thrilled that Hassell-Collins became the first London Irish-based player to start for England in a decade, claiming it was a huge boost to the Exiles in showing that its talent doesn’t have to leave to further its Test-level ambitions.
“Players in the past thought they would have had to leave to get that (England) recognition,” enthused Kidney at the time. “The two games, he loved it. He didn’t get his hands on the ball as often as he would have hoped but that is Ollie, he just loves playing with the ball in his hands.
“He knows he is there or thereabouts now (with England). I’m sure with his conversations with Steve and the other coaches that he will be working on little aspects of his game to get him back into the squad as soon as possible.”
However, 20 days after Kidney spoke so enthusiastically about Hassell-Collins and his England starting team breakthrough, London Irish have now admitted that the winger’s club future will happen elsewhere in the Premiership as they have been unable to convince him to sign a contract extension.
A statement read: “London Irish can confirm the departure of Ollie Hassell-Collins from the club at the end of the 2022/23 season. Hassell-Collins progressed from the Exiles’ academy earning his first senior appearance in the 2018/19 season. The 24-year-old has since made 101 appearances for the club and amassed 215 points and 43 tries scored as an Irish player, including helping lift the 2018/19 Championship to gain promotion to the Gallagher Premiership. He achieved his first caps for the England senior team in this year’s Six Nations championship.”
Kidney said: “I know that alongside his contributions for London Irish, Ollie as a person will always be remembered fondly by everyone at the club and our supporters too. I have learned a lot from Ollie as a person.
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“That is down to his personality and the hard work he has put in through the years to become the player that he is today, Leicester have gained a very valuable man on and off the field. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Ollie and his family for their time and effort over the years and wish them well for the future.”
Hassell-Collins added: “A decision to leave a place like London Irish is never an easy one, they have provided me with more than I can put into words in my time here, but I feel the time is right for a new challenge.
“Throughout my years with Irish and to this day, I have always been surrounded by excellent coaches, staff and players and I want to thank them for playing a very important role in my journey. There is still a lot to play for this season and, rest assured, I will do my utmost to repay the work put in and play my part in the really important games coming up for London Irish.
“Finally, I want to thank the supporters of this very special club for their support of me and the team through good times and bad, and I am confident that they will be rewarded for their continued faith in the club very soon.”
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In a separate statement from Leicester, Hassell-Collins said: “It’s the biggest club in England, and hard to say no when they want to come and chat with you. It excites me a lot to be a part of the Leicester Tigers.
“I know some of the guys and am looking forward to being a part of the young group and what is a pretty crazy potential line-up in the backline. It’s a hell of a ground, Welford Road, and when you think about Leicester Tigers, you think about the stadium and crowd, how hostile it is. It’s exciting to know I’ll be on the home side of that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Hats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
2 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
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