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Saracens lock-in ex-England U20s fullback as Harlequins sign 'powerful' teenager
Both Saracens and Harlequins have locked-in two exciting prospects ahead of the 2019/20 season.
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Saracens – Matt Gallagher
Gallagher has signed a contract extension at the Saracens. The full-back, who has featured nine times in all competitions this season, will remain at Allianz Park until the summer of 2020.
Gallagher joined the Sarries academy aged 14 and has risen through the system, impressing frequently for Storm and catching the eye when called upon for first-team duties.
He made his senior debut against Ospreys in the 2014/15 LV= Cup before spending a season with Old Albanian in National Two South to further his development.
In the summer of 2016, the 22-year-old starred for England Under-20s as they went on to lift the World Rugby U20 Championship and later that year gained experience in the Championship at Bedford Blues as well as making his Premiership bow for Saracens.
This season, Gallagher started and scored in the Men in Black’s opening home match of the campaign and made his European debut in the pool-stage victory over Glasgow Warriors.
In total, he has made 25 club appearances.
Director of Rugby Mark McCall added: “Matt is an extremely hard-working player who is always looking to develop areas of his game and is improving all the time as a result.
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“His performances this season have been really impressive and his progression has seen him make a deserved European debut. We’re delighted he is continuing his journey with us.”
Harlequins – Cadan Murley
Harlequins have confirmed that Murley has signed a new contract with the club, after a brilliant start to the season for the young winger.
The 19-year-old joined full-time last season and only made his senior squad debut in January 2018 against Scarlets in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.
But he has made an explosive start to this season with Quins under Head of Rugby Paul Gustard, making nine appearances and scoring two tries as the Club have risen to third in the Gallagher Premiership and reached the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
Gustard said: “We have been so pleased with Cadan’s work-rate, as well as his unquestionable skill and he thoroughly deserves his new contract with the club.
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“The way he has already become such a valued member of matchday squads in such a short space of time is testament to the energy he brings to the group in which he has helped create the winning mentality that we are establishing at the Club.
“He is like an extra forward the way he approaches the game. He is very tough, he is quick and powerful through contact and he is a very good defender.
“He has impressed me personally with his tenacity, fight, eagerness to learn and hunger to get better. He is a joy to coach and I am confident he will prove to be a quality player for this club for a long time. There is so much more to come from Cadan and I am sure he will also be able to play at 13 for us as he develops his all-round skill set.
“He is a brilliant kid, his maturity and self-awareness were made very clear to me in pre-season when he excused himself from a squad excursion to represent the Club in the 7s which showed me the kind of attitude that I know is crucial in squads that win championships.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments