Gloucester Rugby has appointed Dean Ryan as its new head coach with the 38 year-old leading a new-look playing set-up for the 2005/06 season.
Ryan takes on the role of head coach after three seasons at the Kingsholm club, and will be joined by new recruit Bryan Redpath.
Redpath joins the West Country side after retiring from playing with Sale Sharks in the summer.
Australian fly-half Duncan McRae will join Redpath and Ryan in the coaching set-up as player/skills coach, and will combine the role with his playing duties as he competes with new signing Ludovic Mercier for the starting stand-off position.
Former All Blacks fitness expert Mike Anthony continues as conditioning coach after arriving in the West Country last season after the 2003 World Cup, and will be joined by new recruit Barnaby Allen when the Gloucester squad return to pre-season at the end of June.
Allen joins as Academy conditioning coach, and will work with Anthony on all fitness and conditioning.
The Club's defence coach Dave Ellis is currently with the French national side for their summer tour fixtures.
Working alongside Ryan and his coaching team will be Richard Mack, who joins as head physio. Mack has Premiership physio experience at London Irish and will work with the team of club doctors and sports therapist Kim Owen.
John Moore is currently providing additional physio support, with a full-time appointment to be announced soon, as well as further specialist sports physician support through doctor Rod Jaques.
The Club's successful Academy team continues to develop some of the game's top young talent with Carl Douglas as manager and Mark Hewitt as assistant manager. Nel Porteus continues as physio for the development players.
Justin Hopwood, who has been the Club's media manager for the last two seasons, will take on the new role of rugby manager and will be responsible for all player and team administration, as well as all media activity.
In addition to the new role of rugby manager, Gloucester has also appointed Perry Perrott as video analyst and IT manager. Perrott was previously a senior lecturer in media at Gloucester College of Arts (GLOSCAT), and will be supported on matchdays by former Gloucester player Dave Pointon, who is the director of rugby at St Peter's School Gloucester.
Adrienne Eley and Tim Mitchell continue in the roles of team administrator and kit man respectively at the playing department's offices and training centre at Hartpury College, just outside of the city centre.
Commenting on www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk Dean Ryan said: "Bryan's appointment is a great move for Gloucester. He has an outstanding rugby brain and is a superb motivator. He's an out and out winner and has one of the sharpest minds in the Premiership.
"We took council with a number of individuals, and Bryan Redpath is the right man for the job. His role as a leader and a captain from his professional playing career will allow him to take the next step as a coach."
Talking about the new-look playing department structure, Ryan added: "We've recruited the right people in the right structure. The new set-up that is now in place is vital to the success of this club.
"We've recruited more specialist support in specific areas. We've covered all roles within the playing department, in terms of both on and off-the-field positions.
"We've made appointments in the most important areas. Bryan (Redpath) on the coaching side, and there is extra conditioning support, additional support on the physio and medical side, and the administration and management roles have also been bolstered.
"All of this allows each individual to concentrate on their specialist areas, and create the right environment for players and management to perform.
"We have learned lessons from last season, and there was a need for an increase in the number of roles to make sure that we created the right environment for us to succeed.
"We know that we need to continually build on this structure and the playing staff, but there are only a limited number of time windows to influence recruitment.
"This structure is the start, and there are now plans for the next 12 months, two years and three years."
Commenting on his appointment as coach Bryan Redpath said: "I said a few months back that if I was to go into coaching then I wanted it to be with an ambitious set-up.
"From what I've spoken to Dean about and seen from the new structure, that is exactly the case here at Gloucester. I wanted to work in a professional environment, and that's exactly what there is in place at this club.
"The next few weeks will be about familiarising myself with the players, getting to understand them as individuals and vice versa. This is a hands-on role and there're exciting times ahead."
Ken Nottage, the Club's managing director said: "This is a fantastic structure that has the buy-in of everyone, starting from the top and chairman Tom Walkinshaw. Everyone has worked long and hard over the last few weeks to ensure we have the right people in place for the start of the new season. We will go forward with this set-up."
Playing Department Profiles:
Name: Dean Ryan
Position: Head coach
Background: Ryan played for Saracens, Wasps, Newcastle and Bristol, and the former England number eight tasted league success as a player with both Wasps (89-90) and Newcastle (97-98). He moved into coaching whilst at Bristol, taking over from Bob Dwyer at the Memorial Stadium club in the summer of 2000. Ryan was in charge at Bristol for two seasons, taking them to the Zurich Championship final in 2002, before joining up with Nigel Melville at Gloucester that summer. The 38 year-old has had three years as coach at Gloucester. His first season saw Gloucester win the Powergen Cup at Twickenham and finish top of the regular Zurich Premiership season, but losing the Premiership final to Wasps. There has also been a Heineken Cup quarter-final in the 2003/04 season, before his appointment this summer as head coach.
Name: Bryan Redpath
Position: Coach
Background: Scottish international scrum-half Redpath retired from playing in May after a successful professional career that saw him represent Sale, Narbonne, Edinburgh and Melrose, and win 60 international caps. Redpath completed a successful season with Sale Sharks this summer after lifting the European Challenge Cup, and played his final professional game for the Barbarians against England at Twickenham at the end of the campaign. The 33 year-old has signed a two-year contract as coach at Gloucester Rugby
Name: Duncan McRae
Position: Player/Skills coach
Background: McRae joined Gloucester in the Autumn of 2003 from New South Wales Waratahs. The 30 year-old started last season in top form before being sidelined with neck and knee injuries. McRae returned to the Kingsholm side towards the end of last season as the Club pushed for a play-off place. The Aussie fly-half will combine his playing duties with a coaching role responsible for the skills aspect of the game.
Name: Mike Anthony
Position: Conditioning coach
Background: Anthony is one of the leading fitness experts in world rugby and joined Gloucester from the New Zealand international set-up in the summer of 2004. Before moving to the Premiership Anthony was the New Zealand RFU's national fitness advisor and the All Blacks' fitness expert for four years. Prior to working with the All Blacks he had five years with the Canterbury NPC team and seven years with the Crusaders Super 12 set-up, before making his mark on the international scene including the Tri-Nations and the 2003 World Cup. The former All Blacks fitness man has plenty of top level experience including one Bledisloe Cup triumph, two Tri-Nations titles, the Commonwealth Games Sevens gold medal, three Super 12 wins and one National Provincial Championship.
Name: Dave Ellis
Position: Defence coach
Background: Ellis joined Gloucester for the 2001/02 season and has been responsible for the team's defensive skills and strategy over the last four seasons. The former rugby league player moved into coaching during a spell in France in the 1990s, and moved to the West Country when Phillipe Saint-Andre was director of rugby. Ellis combines his role at Gloucester with the job of defence coach of the French national side.
Name: Barnaby Allen
Position: Academy conditioning coach
Background: Allen, who joins the Club this summer, has spent time with London Broncos rugby league side and is currently completing additional sports conditioning studies at Bath University.
Name: Richard Mack
Position: Head physio
Background: Mack joins Gloucester Rugby in the summer of 2005 as head physio. He has recently completed a masters degree in sports medicine and has previously worked at Premiership rivals London Irish.
Name: John Moore
Position: Physio
Background: Moore worked with Gloucester last season after previous roles with both the RFU and Northampton Saints.
Name: Kim Owen
Position: Sports therapist
Background: The 2005/06 season will be Owen's tenth season with the Club. As sports therapist she works closely with the physio team on all areas of treatment, and plays a key role co-ordinating all medical issues throughout the week, as well as a key role on matchday.
Name: Rob Mackay, Chris Curwen and Iain Macfadyen
Position: Club doctors
Background: Mckay is the Club's first team doctor, and has been involved with Gloucester Rugby for more than 10 years. He works with two leading orthopaedic surgeons, in Chris Curwen and Iain Macfadyen, who complete the team of Club doctors.
Name: Carl Douglas
Position: Academy manager
Background: Douglas has been manager of the Club's Academy for the last three years after joining from Worcester. The former paratrooper has been instrumental in developing the Club's top young talent, including Marcel Garvey, Brad Davies and Nick Wood.
Name: Mark Hewitt
Position: Assistant Academy manager
Background: Hewitt joined as assistant Academy manager in the summer of 2004 after a number of years as a key player in West Country rugby. The former marine has held previous posts with the International Rugby Board (IRB) and the South West England rugby academy.
Name: Nel Porteus
Position: Academy physio
Background: Nel previously worked at Worcester Warriors and continues her role at Gloucester as Academy physio looking after the development players.
Name: Justin Hopwood
Position: Rugby manager
Background: Hopwood joined Gloucester in the summer of 2003 as media manager after two seasons with Bristol Shoguns in a similar role. With nine years experience of working in both agency and in-house roles in the communications industry, the 30 year-old starts the 2005/06 season in the new role of rugby manager. His key responsibilities include all playing and team administration duties as well as overseeing all media activity. He offers a wealth of knowledge and contacts within the administrative, media and commercial sides of the game.
Name: Perry Perrott
Position: Video analyst and IT manager
Background: Perrott joins the Club in July as video analyst and IT manager. He was previously a senior lecturer in media at Gloucester College of Arts (GLOSCAT), and has been involved with the Club for the last season as part of a partnership between the two.
Name: Dave Pointon
Position: Analysis support
Background: After 13 years as a player at Gloucester, the St Peter's School director of rugby has supported the Club's playing department for the last decade. He currently assists with analysis and links with some of the young players at St Peter's School, which has produced a number of stars including Marcel Garvey, Adam Eustace and Brad Davies.
Name: Adrienne Eley
Position: Team administrator
Background: Eley has been the team administrator at Gloucester Rugby for the last four seasons, working closely with the playing department on all administration duties.
Name: Tim Mitchell
Position: Kit man
Background: Mitchell joined the Kingsholm club in the summer of 2004 and is responsible for the day-to-day co-ordination of all training and playing equipment.
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