Latest news with #ChampRugby
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Relaunched Worcester out to 'create own history'
Worcester Warriors chief executive Stephen Vaughan insists the club will be ready when they return to professional rugby this autumn. The Warriors' brand-new squad trained for the first time last week as they build towards their first season since administration at the start of the 2022-23 campaign. They were admitted to the second-tier Champ Rugby in April and will make their much-anticipated return at home to Coventry on 4 October. Under head coach Matt Everard, the Warriors have recruited a blend of former Premiership players alongside young newcomers. "We obviously started with a blank piece of paper a few months ago," Vaughan told BBC Hereford and Worcester. "It's quite a proud moment, really, to see it all come from an embryonic thought and suggestion to reality now." Despite the experience brought in, such as former British and Irish Lions back Billy Twelvetrees and Saracens prop Fraser Balmain, Everard faces a big challenge to mould together his quickly-assembled squad. "Naturally, we will not have the combinations that other teams will have and all the rest of it, but we're not seeing that as a weakness," Vaughan said. "We're seeing it as an opportunity to create our own history." 'Worcester is a Premiership set-up' The Warriors were a Premiership side for all but two seasons from promotion in 2004 until 2022, and Vaughan is keen for a return to the top flight, but he has also tempered talk of immediate promotion. "Worcester Warriors and Sixways is a Premiership set-up," he added. "It needs to be in the top flight at some point, but considering where it was from administration to where we are now, I think it would be crazy of us to start putting ridiculous targets in place. "But naturally, we'll go out to try and win every game." Vaughan, who was group CEO with Wasps when they also went into administration in October 2022, soon after Worcester, says the club will be "unapologetically commercial" to avoid history repeating itself. Plans were submitted to develop their Sixways home last November and Vaughan wants to host concerts and events at the stadium to give the club a sustainable future. "We have to make sure that we're more commercial going forward, develop the site, because that's the way we can then invest more money into the rugby," he added. "But not in a way where you can create investor fatigue or a situation where you're relying on one single individual, because we've seen what's happened in the past." Listen: Sport's Strangest Crimes - Bloodgate Listen to the latest Rugby Union Weekly podcast
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Relaunched Worcester out to 'create own history'
Worcester Warriors chief executive Stephen Vaughan insists the club will be ready when they return to professional rugby this Warriors' brand-new squad trained for the first time last week as they build towards their first season since administration at the start of the 2022-23 were admitted to the second-tier Champ Rugby in April and will make their much-anticipated return at home to Coventry on 4 head coach Matt Everard, the Warriors have recruited a blend of former Premiership players alongside young newcomers."We obviously started with a blank piece of paper a few months ago," Vaughan told BBC Hereford and Worcester."It's quite a proud moment, really, to see it all come from an embryonic thought and suggestion to reality now."Despite the experience brought in, such as former British and Irish Lions back Billy Twelvetrees and Saracens prop Fraser Balmain, Everard faces a big challenge to mould together his quickly-assembled squad. "Naturally, we will not have the combinations that other teams will have and all the rest of it, but we're not seeing that as a weakness," Vaughan said. "We're seeing it as an opportunity to create our own history." 'Worcester is a Premiership set-up' The Warriors were a Premiership side for all but two seasons from promotion in 2004 until 2022, and Vaughan is keen for a return to the top flight, but he has also tempered talk of immediate promotion."Worcester Warriors and Sixways is a Premiership set-up," he added."It needs to be in the top flight at some point, but considering where it was from administration to where we are now, I think it would be crazy of us to start putting ridiculous targets in place."But naturally, we'll go out to try and win every game."Vaughan, who was group CEO with Wasps when they also went into administration in October 2022, soon after Worcester, says the club will be "unapologetically commercial" to avoid history repeating were submitted to develop their Sixways home last November and Vaughan wants to host concerts and events at the stadium to give the club a sustainable future."We have to make sure that we're more commercial going forward, develop the site, because that's the way we can then invest more money into the rugby," he added."But not in a way where you can create investor fatigue or a situation where you're relying on one single individual, because we've seen what's happened in the past."
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Newby looking for 'character' to push Cambridge forward
Cambridge head coach Craig Newby is prioritising "character over talent" as he looks to plot a way to improved results by the Champ Rugby Blood and Sand won promotion to the second tier in 2023 but have finished bottom in the two seasons since then, winning only five out of 42 league who previously held the head coach job from 2013 to 2015, replaces Anthony Allen, who was interim boss for the second half of last season and has now joined the coaching staff at Leicester Tigers."I've spent a lot of time in the last two, three months, looking observing, talking to people, questioning, planning and finding out where this club wants to go to and how we're going to get there," the New Zealander told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire."Everything we're doing is around the type of person you are, it's not a blanket rule but we're pretty much looking at character over talent."Everyone in this building will have talent, but if you're not willing to fight for your team-mate, if you're not willing to care for your club and not willing to push yourself, then this place isn't going to be for you." The former All Black took up his new role at the beginning of May and work has been going on to strengthen the squad for next season, when the expanded league will feature 14 Mills became the club's latest signing on Tuesday, following fellow back rows Arthur Thomas and Dan Eckersley, fly-half Jamie Annand, centre Levi Reweti, hooker Dylan Irvine, lock Rhys Fulford and number eight Sam Asotasi. Newby, who won a Sevens gold medal for New Zealand at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, said the new season would provide an opportunity for the squad to "grow as a group of people".He added: "It's a tough competition, the Champ, it's got harder with Worcester and Richmond (added). Everyone's going to be faster, stronger, it's going to be a challenge and we need to get things off the field right as well."(But) We can't just be all about work, it has to be about balance and finding time to share time with each other and families."They're the two areas we're going to be looking at, changing the way we train and prepare for our rugby so our players have a chance to be competitive on a Saturday and culturally and environment-wise we're going to have a big push on how we work together and how we enjoy ourselves."
Telegraph
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Premiership will rebrand to... ‘Gallagher Prem'
English rugby union's top tier will be rebranded as 'Gallagher Prem' as part of a concerted push to champion the intensity, aggression and athleticism of the sport. The change, which comes a month after the second tier became 'Champ Rugby' in a similar facelift, will be unveiled during Saturday's final between Bath and Leicester Tigers. A teaser will be shown on the big screens at the Allianz Stadium and covered by the TNT Sports broadcast. After this soft launch, a full rebrand will come into action on July 23, when the fixtures for 2025-26 are unveiled. 'What is important to us is evolution,' explained Rob Calder, the Premiership's chief growth officer. 'We are a competition with great history, but we also believe we have a bright future ahead of us. We didn't want to change it [too much] because this competition is flourishing. We wanted to do right by that, but we also wanted to move forward. 'You've seen it with the Championship reducing to the Champ, there's a de-formalisation of sport and being right by the fan is really important. Speaking in the vernacular is important to us. 'We are going to talk how fans talk. It's not formal, it's not corporate, it's not traditional. We know if we are going to grow from Gallagher Prem fans, we've got to attract international fans and then reach out into broader sport audiences.' 'We want people to have a s--- Saturday if their team lose' Calder admitted that different names had been considered but 'there was so much strength in where we've come from' and the priority now is to 'reframe' rugby union to 'cut through to wider audiences'. Next season is due to begin with a Thursday night fixture on September 25 to avoid a clash with the Women's World Cup final two days later. Though this may end up as a one-off, more midweek matches could follow if it is viewed as a success. 'Real grit', 'raw speed' and 'big hits' are three taglines that will underpin the competition's advertising. Bosses want existing and prospective viewers to be 'unashamedly talking about physicality' as well as amplifying existing rivalries among the 10 clubs. 'We want people to have a s--- Saturday if their team lose,' said Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of Warner Bros Discovery Sports, which owns TNT. 'We want them walking out of a match going: 'This has ruined my day.' That's what we want people to feel like and it's what we've got to build our sport towards.' Calder stressed that safety and welfare protocols and playing within the laws would remain integral to the Premiership's values, though the sport should 'not be shy' about its storytelling. 'Our focus is going to be on the intensity, the physicality and the extreme athleticism of rugby as well as the rawness and the grit of our league,' Calder said. 'It's a really simple proposition. It's about selling what makes this thing unique and what resonates with the broadest audiences. 'This is about big hits. It's intense, it's full contact, and it is unflinching. The players have said celebrate us as players and what we do; the aggression and the gladiatorial nature [of the sport]. Give the brand the intensity it needs to match.' 'Start thinking beyond these shores' There is confidence that showpiece fixtures can be moved to the United States in the build-up to the 2031 World Cup. Simon Massie-Taylor, the chief executive of Premiership Rugby, heralded the launch of the Club World Cup in 2028 as 'a step forward in the club game going global', and is mindful of how English domestic matches in the US have fallen flat in the past. 'The obvious point is the US,' he added. 'We've had games in the US before and they've been a flash in the pan; the wrong time in the season, the wrong area, the wrong teams [involved]. But there is an opportunity in the build-up to the 2031 World Cup. 'We also have a US partner [Gallagher], which is coming up to its 100th anniversary [in 2027]. It needs to lead to something. It's about maxing out what we have domestically first, which is why sell-outs are so important and why that needs to continue. Then you start thinking beyond these shores.' This all comes amid optimism for the competition's growth. Tickets for the final at Twickenham were purchased in record time, making it the 32nd sellout of the season; up from 18 in 2023-24. Away ends, introduced on a trial basis this year, are to be explored further. Stadium occupancy is a priority and powerbrokers aim to offer discounts for travelling away fans eventually. According to a YouGov survey, interest in the league has grown by 10 per cent and by 30 per cent among 18-34-year-olds. Massie-Taylor also said that clubs were 'chipping away' at government debt, from Covid loans, and third-party debt, with the on-field action in the top tier regarded as a major plus. Fast-paced, attacking rugby is viewed as an attractive characteristic, as is the league's unpredictability. Bath are aiming to be the sixth Premiership winner in as many seasons, following Exeter Chiefs, Harlequins, Leicester Tigers, Saracens and Northampton Saints. It is understood that Red Bull's takeover of Newcastle Falcons is close to completion in what is hoped to be a precursor of further outside investment and the Premiership's financial monitoring panel, set up in the wake of Worcester Warriors, Wasps and London Irish going bust in 2022, has been a stabilising force. TNT Sports is tied into a new broadcast deal that will run until 2031 and is thought to be worth just shy of £200 million in total, rising to about £40 million in the last year of the agreement. Leading players including George Furbank, the Northampton Saints full-back, and Beno Obano, the Bath loosehead prop, have been canvassed for opinions on the marketing of the Premiership and are eager for personalities and athleticism to be celebrated. 'Build us into something that attracts the next generation,' was how Calder summarised the pervading message. Another encouraging aspect has been the strengthening and alignment of England's age-group pathways, with the Under-20s reigning world champions. The rise of Henry Pollock, an indelible storyline of the past year, is viewed as an indication of how youngsters can sell the sport and September will see the launch of YouTube content fronted by the players in a bid to bring viewers behind the scenes.
BBC News
28-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Cornish Pirates McNab to make Doncaster move
Cornish Pirates winger Matt McNab will join Champ Rugby rivals Doncaster Knights in the 26-year-old Zimbabwe international has scored 30 tries in 51 appearances since moving to the Penzance-based club two years ago. He had previously spent time at Hartpury and Worcester Warriors and also played in South Africa's Currie Cup for the Zimbabwe Goshawks."Since arriving at the Pirates, Matt immediately showed his strength and ability and a real commitment both on and off the pitch," said Pirates joint-head coach Gavin Cattle."He is a big personality who will be missed massively, and we would like to thank him for his quite considerable overall contribution."McNab added: "It has been the best two years of my rugby career so far, and I have loved every single minute."I can't thank everyone at the Pirates enough for what they have done for me along the journey. It's been amazing for my development on the field and in my day-to-day life off it."
