'This is one of the worst years I can remember in terms of guys struggling to find clubs'
Ex-Harlequins hooker Dave Ward has expressed his relief at coming out the other side of an unsettling few months with his short-term future secure in the game.
Despite having a deal at Harlequins that would have taken him through to summer 2020, the 34-year-old decided to knock that option on the head and instead take up an offer at Yorkshire Carnegie that would not only continue his playing career but also give him his first steps on the coaching ladder.
However, that plan ran into trouble when a financial crisis enveloped the Championship club and his deal was shelved, leaving Ward with nothing but an anxious wait on the horizon.
Salvation eventually arrived by way of Ampthill, the little-known, newly-promoted club from National One who have arrived into the second tier of the English game with designs on hanging around for quite some time.
Ward, the former England Saxon who toured New Zealand with Stuart Lancaster’s senior side in 2014, is thrilled to have a one-year shot as player-coach at the Bedfordshire outfit, declaring in the club’s media release about his signing: “After talking to Mark Lavery and head coach Paul Turner, it was a no-brainer to sign for Ampthill.
DoR Mark Lavery confirms that Harlequin Dave Ward has joined Ampthill for the coming season. More here https://t.co/IxKCkNLX0R
— Ampthill Rugby (@AmpthillRufc) July 1, 2019
“I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to further develop my coaching career and I’m looking forward to the challenge of helping Ampthill in the Championship.”
Turner, the former Wales talisman who coached at Gloucester, Harlequins, Dragons and Wasps before starting his Ampthill adventure in 2012 way down the English pyramid, added: “Dave is a great addition to our squad and coaching team. He brings huge experience and capability in areas where we were a little light in the past couple of campaigns.”
Ward had opened up to the weekend Rugby Paper about his anxious wait to secure a deal following his let-down by Yorkshire. “I signed for Yorkshire last year, the main reason being to work with Chris Stirling again, who I’d played under at Cornish Pirates,” he explained.
“Unfortunately, I found out around February time that the finances weren’t where they thought they would be. It was going to be a good two-year deal at what seemed to be an ambitious club, with a view to having a go at reaching the Premiership in year two.
“With the infrastructure and academy they had it’s a plan that could have worked, but clubs rely on benefactors and if one pulls out it can create a domino effect and that is what happened at Yorkshire. It has been unsettling for a lot of people.
“By February most clubs have got their recruitment sorted and this is one of the worst years I can remember in terms of guys struggling to find clubs. There are guys from Harlequins who are quality players who still don’t have contracts.
OUT TOMORROW!
All Blacks autumn Tests will bring in £20m – will ticket prices be raised? pic.twitter.com/DR62nO5Kbm
— The Rugby Paper (@TheRugbyPaper) June 29, 2019
“It’s the end of June and it’s unbelievable some of them can’t find clubs, but I just had to remain calm, especially as I was a little different to other guys that I wanted something with a coaching aspect to it as well, with an eye on my future career options.
“There wasn’t really the opportunity to stay in the Premiership, certainly nothing that would have given me a coaching role, but luckily Ampthill showed some interest… they have achieved good things coming up through the leagues and are an honest club.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Je 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 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.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments