The 'Came through the RFU Championship' XV
The RFU Championship has received a lot of attention over the past few days after the Rugby Football Union’s decision to cut its funding of the league by almost half.
Since then, a host of players, chairmen and pundits have commented on how damaging this could be for England, the Gallagher Premiership and the league itself.
The majority of current England players have had stints in the Championship, as it is a preferred option of Premiership teams to loan players to the division below. However, there are also many that have risen through the ranks at RFU Championship clubs, and used that as a platform for their careers.
So here is an XV of players who came from Championship teams:
1 MAKO VUNIPOLA – BRISTOL
Before being signed by Saracens, the England, and British and Irish Lions loosehead Mako Vunipola came through Bristol, playing in the playoff loss to Exeter Chiefs in 2010.
2 DAVE WARD- CORNISH PIRATES
While Harlequins’ Dave Ward did not come through Cornish Pirates, having previously played for Bath, Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks, it was his three years in Penzance that attracted the attention of Harlequins. He arrived at the Stoop in 2012 and has been a great servant to the club ever since.
3 THOMAS FRANCIS – DONCASTER KNIGHTS
The Wales international and current Exeter Chiefs prop Thomas Francis was born in Yorkshire and played for Doncaster Knights and London Scottish before being snapped up by Rob Baxter at Exeter in 2014. Honorary mention: Ben Alexander- Bedford Blues.
4 DANNY GREWCOCK- COVENTRY
Before a distinguished career with Saracens, Bath, England, and the British and Irish Lions, Rugby World Cup winning lock Danny Grewcock spent three years in the Championship (then National One) with Coventry.
5 MOURITZ BOTHA – BEDFORD BLUES
The South African born England international Mouritz Botha started his career in England with Bedford Blues before moving to Saracens in 2009.
6 COLIN CHARVIS – LONDON WELSH
One of many Wales greats to play in the English capital with London Welsh, the Birmingham born Colin Charvis started his career there in the 90s before moving to Swansea and later becoming Wales captain.
7 AKAPUSI QERA – BIRMINGHAM & SOLIHULL
One of Gloucester’s great flankers this millennium, the former Fiji captain Akapusi Qera spent a season with Birmingham & Solihull (then Pertemps Bees) before moving to Kingsholm and later Toulouse.
8 NICK EASTER – ORRELL
The Manchester club Orrell were a feature of the RFU Championship during the 90s and early 2000s, even finishing second in 2004. Off the back of that season, their No8 Nick Easter was spotted by Harlequins and made the move up to the Premiership.
9 DANNY CARE – OTLEY
Although England and Harlequins scrumhalf Danny Care never strictly played in the Championship with Otley, having moved to fellow Yorkshire outfit Leeds, he did play for the club in his youth.
10 GARETH STEENSON – EXETER CHIEFS
Now a mainstay in the Premiership (and the fifth all-time points scorer), Gareth Steenson was part of Exeter back in their Championship days and has been with them through all their glory. Seven years before Steenson kicked the winning penalty in the Premiership final, he kicked 24 points in the 2010 playoff second-leg against Bristol to secure promotion.
11 JOE COKANASIGA – LONDON IRISH
Now in his second season at Bath, the 22-year-old giant Joe Cokanasiga first announced himself in the Championship with London Irish, and a barnstorming 2016/17 saw him selected for Eddie Jones’ England team to tour Argentina.
12 TOM SHANKLIN – LONDON WELSH
The 70-cap former Wales centre Tom Shanklin began his career with London Welsh before moving to Saracens and then Cardiff Blues.
13 CHRIS WYLES – NOTTINGHAM
The former USA captain Chris Wyles began his professional career with Nottingham before moving to Northampton Saints and then Saracens in 2008, where he became a four-time Premiership winner and two-time Champions Cup winner.
14 SEAN LAMONT – ROTHERHAM
The 105-cap Scotland great Sean Lamont was a Rotherham player in the early 2000s, spending three years in Yorkshire before a move to Glasgow, where his career blossomed.
15 DAVID STRETTLE – ROTHERHAM
A benefit of Harlequins being relegated in 2005, was that the London club were exposed to some of the talent in the league below. After impressing for Rotherham that season, the future England winger David Strettle was signed by Harlequins after they earned promotion.
Comments on RugbyPass
This looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to comments