Snubbed England No.8 wins Gallagher Premiership Rugby Player of the Month
Snubbed England No8 Alex Dombrandt was acclaimed as one of the rising stars of the English game while being named Gallagher Premiership Rugby Player of the Month for January 2020.
The barnstorming back-rower continued his impressive form in January as Harlequins ended the month with a decisive win over Saracens putting them in Gallagher Premiership Rugby’s top six.
Dombrandt’s performances in January were praised by Ugo Monye, the former England and Lions wing who is now a BT Sport pundit, covering Gallagher Premiership Rugby, and Gallagher brand ambassador.
“Alex has been simply outstanding,” said Monye. “There was always the potential of second season syndrome but that certainly hasn’t affected him.
“He is such a threat with ball in hand, so physical and direct but he’s coupled that with a real intellect.
Continue reading below…
WATCH: Jim’s had a traumatic weekend but he’s made it into the studio to discuss Ellis Genge’s interview and Finn Russell’s ongoing bust-up with Gregor Townsend! We analyse South Africa joining the Six Nations and throw in a few rumours out there.
“The lad has gone from playing university rugby just over a year ago to now having the English media calling for him to be in the Six Nations squad. That’s the rise that he has made and that should be an inspiration to everyone else playing lower league rugby.
“He has really paved the way and shown that with really good coaching, loads of hard work and opportunities, you can achieve the heights that he is currently setting.”
Dombrandt was presented with his award by Toby Edwards, Head of Commercial for Gallagher in Guildford, where the insurance broker has a 100-strong team as part of its UK-wide network of more than 70 branches.
6?? A level students for headmaster Faz… ?????? https://t.co/2ntKdVGH8v
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 11, 2020
The calls for Dombrandt to be elevated to the England squad have grown louder in recent weeks and Monye believes it is only a matter of time before he wears the red rose.
Monye added: “For Alex, his focus has just got to be on continuing to put out the performances which he is doing.
“He will have plenty of opportunities. As he is such a young man he can’t get frustrated or side-tracked, he has got to keep focused on the task at hand.
It's been a Wednesday of mounting fury in Championship rugby circles… @chrisjonespress hears from two club coaches furious with the RFU's budget cut https://t.co/S4guDoJjDN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 12, 2020
“Without a shadow of a doubt (he can have an impact in the England team).
“It’s important to be given an opportunity.
“If he doesn’t get a shot in this Six Nations you’d hope that he would be given an opportunity in the tour of Japan this summer.”
Wales, you have been warned. #GuinnessSixNations https://t.co/w1NDKvVIAP
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 12, 2020
Gallagher’s Toby Edwards, who caught up with Dombrandt at Harlequins’ training ground in Guildford to present him with his award, said:
“As a massive rugby fan, supporter of Wales on the international stage and former fellow No.8 it’s a total privilege and pleasure to present January’s Player of the Month award to local Surrey lad Alex who has also run out for Wales Under-20s. The speed at which he has settled into top-flight rugby in the Gallagher Premiership is matched only by his strength, skill and dominance on the pitch for Harlequins — much to the delight of all us that are local fans.”
He was involved in a three-way battle to win the award eventually beating Sale Sharks pair Will Cliff and Rohan Janse Van Rensburg.
Comments on RugbyPass
Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy 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!
5 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 …
34 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 comments