Gloucester and England Rugby Academy - Talent ID and selection

Players will be selected from county development squads, by direct referral from the county coach or Rugby Development Officer. Opportunities are available, via the Gloucester Academy staff for entry by late developers and talented athletes from other sports. The objective is to select players onto the programme that demonstrate the potential to be GERA players. An academy athlete is aged 16-21 and has the potential to play premiership rugby.

Players selected to attend the Gloucester and England Rugby Academy (GERA) must be England qualified and have the potential to play for England. Player potential will be assessed under four main categories:

- Skills and elements of technical competence
- Tactical and game understanding
- Strength and conditioning
- Personal  drive and attitude

Players wishing to put themselves forward for GERA selection should first be identified within the constituent body development squads run by the RFU’s Rugby Development Officers. 

Players can be nominated to these squads from any club or school. Referral must be accompanied by approval from North Gloucestershire’s RDO (Gary Townsend). Selection will be based on merit and the decision of the GERA staff is final. 

Those selected must demonstrate the potential to become a professional rugby player and the mental toughness / desire to compete at the highest level. Academy players will be expected to balance their academic commitments with rugby and adopt a lifestyle that will enable them to develop into a professional athlete.

Our key performance indicators  are the performance characteristics we value most.

Note the personal qualities classified as “intangibles”, we believe these are the “X” factor qualities that young players must exhibit if they have a chance to go on and play at the highest level

Fast-Track Policy

Identification will normally begin with the U15 County and Junior Development Programmes. Players will also be identified throughout the County U16 programme. Players will be nominated by county coaches, the RFU Rugby Development Officer or Gloucester RFC coaches or scouts. 

Provided a player in the judgment of his parents, the GERA staff, and of course the player himself is ready and able the player will be, wherever possible, fast-racked to the next level of training and competition. At seventeen this means that the player could play in the GRFC Development or United XV’s. In short, if you are good enough then you will be included in either of these teams.

The programme is split into four areas (TTMP)

Technical: Core skills, pass / catch, tackle, control in contact, and decision making.

Tactical: Game understanding.

Mental: Attitude, work rate, commitment, ability to learn, plan and evaluate, mental toughness.

Physical: Athletic potential, speed, strength, power, and body type.

This combination is an indicator of “potential”, our process is looking to identify and select players that, over time, and with the right development programme are likely to be selected into the senior squad at Gloucester. This may result in less able rugby players being selected as they have greater athletic potential or the smaller more skilful player selected over a player that may have physically matured earlier. The selection process is ongoing and players are constantly reviewed. Players can be selected onto the scheme at any time and can also be released from the programme at any time.

Release Process

The academy accepts that the release process is as important as the recruitment process. There needs to be a clear process to ensure players that are released from the scheme are fully integrated back into the game within the county. 

The process is highly selective; players that are released from the scheme and that have been involved in the programme for a minimum period of time (contact time) will receive a detailed appraisal and reasons behind the decision. If appropriate, the player may be given a specific opportunity or time-frame to be selected back onto the programme. Rugby Development Officers and county coaches will also be informed of this decision as well as club/school coaches. The player should is not be expected to contact the CB or club, the onus should be on the CB or club to contact the player. This will ensure the player feels wanted and is not seen as having failed.

Player release reports will be an accurate reflection on the player’s progress. This provides the player with an accurate assessment of where he is at in relation to those players already classified as GERA athletes. Players released from the scheme fairly quickly will receive a letter with generic areas to work on (e.g. contact skills, athleticism & physicality, handling and passing skills). Specific improvements such as a need to improve the box kick would not be a reason to release a player.

Prospective players can enter the Academy through many different ways. The SOR is our main source of Talent Identification for U13's through to U16's. From the U16's SOR, players who we feel have potential to benefit from a full-time programme will be invited onto the AASE Scheme at Hartpury College which they will study full-time alongside their Academic Programme. This is our preferred route for Academy Athletes at U18's. However for those who feel this is not for them, we also run our Silver Programme on a Monday and Thursday evening at the club's training base at Hartpury for those studying at others Schools and Colleges throughout the North Gloucestershire Area. Players who don't make it into these programmes can also be spotted on our wide Talent Identification watching programmes which covers the entire county through District, School, Club, County and other fixtures.

For Information on the SOR, please contact your local club, your school's Master in Charge of Rugby, or Gary Little in Gloucester's Community Department. For any other queries then please contact Mark Cornwell or Phil Greenaway on 01452 700 283 (Ext 2279) or 07976 556 735.