Wednesday 15th October 2009

A PARTNERSHIP has been struck between Exeter College and Cullompton Rugby Club, further strengthening an existing bond between the two which has seen a number of players rise through the ranks in recent years and go on to play for Exeter Chiefs.
In return for the use of the Stafford Park ground on a number of AASE and Elite Conference league match days this season, Exeter College will also be offering ad hoc coaching to the first team from its Rugby Academy lecturers, of whom all play, or have played, for Exeter Chiefs and The Cornish All Blacks at National League Level One and above.
Additionally, support will be given to the youth teams, including the mini-junior section, through a number of Sunday training sessions. These will be provided by a team of Foundation Degree student volunteers.
Advice will be available to Under 16s too about opportunities they may wish to take up at the College which will enable them to combine their passion for the game with A level studies or other academic courses.
Cullompton spokesman John Shepherd says he hopes the partnership will continue to help the club play to existing strengths, as a side with a good crop of home-grown players loyal to their roots.
“Many of our players were first together in the junior sides and have stuck together at the club both during games and socially ever since, and that really makes the team work,” he says.
“We are very much a community club. With a well-respected Junior section gaining RFU approval, we like to encourage players to build on their skills once they join us, which can be anywhere from aged six upwards. This arrangement should help with our continuing support of them once they have reached their teenage years and beyond, at the same time as help bring in new blood via the College.”
Cullompton has enjoyed three promotions in four years, famously carrying the EDF trophy back home to the South-West in May this year. In doing so, they made history as the first Devon team to win the title.
Exeter College were the first FE College to win the prestigious Daily Mail Under 18 Cup at Twickenham in 2005. This victorious team contained six Cully boys.
There are now eight lads playing in the first team at Cully who came through the Exeter College Rugby Academy programme – Paul Baker, Alex Brooks, Chris Griffiths, Adam Pearce, Rob Stanley, Lee Powell, Jeremy Turner, and Marcus Busch.
Meanwhile, both the club, known locally as Cully, and the College, can boast a healthy bevy of alumni now playing for the Exeter Chiefs, among them promising prop Ben Moon, who has already played for the England Under 20s three times.
Chris Wall, Director of Exeter College Sports Academy, which includes the Rugby Academy among its fold, adds: “It’s great to be able to continue our relationships with local clubs, particularly with one like Cullompton which has done so well and is making progress within the leagues.
“It’s also good to be working with one in which so many of our students have been involved playing rugby over the years.”
Praising the club’s set-up at Stafford Park, he adds: “To be able to come and use a calibre of ground and facilities such as those available at Cullompton for the quality of fixtures we are now playing is excellent.
“You can see from the first team alone how many Exeter college players have worked on their skills within the Academy Programme and risen through the ranks to be playing a good standard of senior rugby. Hopefully, we will continue to see more youngsters coming through to play at a similar level in future, and I am sure a few will progress on to the same standard as Ben Moon.”