Hartpury RFC: Youthful exuberance

Hartpury RFC is a very unique club, after forming back in 2004, the club has gone through a meteoric rise up the leagues and they currently ply their trade in National One, the third tier of English rugby.

That in itself isn’t too remarkable, but when you consider the squad is almost exclusively made up of current Hartpury College students, staff and alumni, the feat seems all the more remarkable.

The College and RFC are best known for their strong links with local Aviva Premiership side Gloucester Rugby and many of the college’s top players end up pulling on the Cherry and White at Kingsholm. The current Gloucester side is littered with Hartpury College alumni, including Dan Robson, Elliot Stooke, Callum Braley, Henry Trinder and Charlie Sharples, not to mention current England squad member, Jonny May. Incidentally, May’s opponent in the opening round of this year’s Six Nations, Wales international Alex Cuthbert, is also a product of the College.

These links go back to 2004, when Gloucester started using Hartpury as its training base, and have since been cemented, with Gloucester announcing a 10-year deal to stay at Hartpury back in 2011. Part of this deal involved the construction of a purpose-built £1.1m training complex at Hartpury, solely for the use of Gloucester Rugby.

The relationship works both ways however, with former Hartpury College students currently contracted to Gloucester often dual-registered with Hartpury RFC and able to compete in the lower tiers. Following Hartpury RFC’s promotion from National Two South last season, they currently sit in the top half of the National One table and regularly go head-to-head with the likes of Fylde, Blackheath, Richmond, Rosslyn Park and Ealing Trailfinders, not to mention Loughborough Students, who they sit a comfortable 15 points above in the table.

There are no clubs at this level, other than Loughborough Students, which operate with such restrictive selection possibilities, yet Hartpury are flourishing. There’s a great brains trust in place at the College, with former England international Phil de Glanville headlining the group as Director of Elite Sport. Their Director of Rugby is Alan Martinovic, a former Bath academy manager, whilst John Barnes and Mark Cromwell are the club’s Head and Forward/Defence coaches respectively and both have considerable professional experience as players under their belts.

The rise up the tables will no doubt put a strain on the college’s playing resources, who also compete in the BUCS leagues on Wednesdays, but the improvement in the opposition they now face on a weekly basis should only improve the College’s importance to Gloucester in regards to dual-registering players. Though promotion to the Greene King IPA Championship looks a tall task this season, with Ealing, Rosslyn Park and Coventry running away at the top of the table, the future is certainly bright for Hartpury RFC and, consequently, Gloucester.

Former Hartpury College U18s captain Joe Batley, along with teammates Will Hayward and Alex Woodburn, signed academy contracts with Gloucester last season, continuing the strong bond between the clubs. Batley and Hayward have both been dual-registered with Hartpury RFC this season and have featured in their National One campaign.

With players such as these, as well as the likes of Steph Reynolds and Tom Ailes, who are also dual-registered, there is every chance that Hartpury RFC can make a run at promotion to English rugby’s second tier next season.

Now, that would be a staggering achievement.