With the Men's 1st XV being promoted to National 3, Regional 1 South East, and the Men's Nomads entering London North 2, the need to bolster the squad with some new faces has been a focus of the off-season.

The good news is that nearly all of last year's senior Men's squad has been retained, with only a handful of players moving out of the area or heading off to University.

Will Buchanan, last year's most improved player, will continue his rugby journey at Durham University, Michael Dunnett, Pete Clark and Will Tyrell are moving to London to pursue work opportunities, Dave Hill sets sail to NZ, and unfortunately, Oli Holmes and club stalwart Matt Gregerson will be watching from the sidelines due to ruptured ACLs.

When recruiting new players, first and foremost they need the have the right personalities to fit in with the squad. Having a cohesive squad with a strong identity and shared purpose is something we pride ourselves on.

Fin Creighton has joined us from Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds to add depth and experience to the squad. Fin is a very intelligent rugby player with a great skill set and a lot of experience from his time at Coventry, Cambridge, and Bury.

Bradley Robinson joins us from St Ives after having some stand out seasons for the club and Eastern Counties. Brad is a big strong loosehead prop that has a natural ability for the game and at only 22 has a bright future.

CK Shields is an exciting player from the USA who took up rugby last season and hasn't looked back. His speed and athleticism make him extremely dangerous as a winger and with some more development and experience, I believe he will be giving Louie Tang and Jack Biard a run for their money when it comes to scoring tries.

James Adamson joined us for the 7s festival and has decided to stay on for the season. James has a rugby league background which makes him a fantastic utility player. His size, speed, and strong ball carrying will be a welcome weapon for the Peacocks.

Other new faces in the squad are:

Isa Sloot (Cambridge RUFC)
Charlie Mason (Bury St Edmunds RUFC)
Joe Gill (Brentwood RFC)
Scotty Dunbar (Ipswich RFC)

We also have a number of new players returning to the game after having time off due to the Covid pandemic. This is not only great news for us but also for the game, as male player numbers were down across the country last season.

Welcome:
Ed O'Keefe, Brett Thomson, Levan Stapleton, Ben Goodchild, and Suliasi Vueta.

Also, the good news keeps coming. We have a number of last season's Colts, as well as some of this season's Colts training with the squad. This is a testament to the improvements we have made to the Colts rugby program and long may it continue.

Welcome:
Harvey Taylor, Harry Calne, Harry Chater, Kyle Harris, Billy White, Yujian Zou, and Tui Baleisolomone.

As the season progresses and more of our young Peacocks turn 17 and 18, I am sure that we will see this list grow!

Finally, I would like to wish all of our Colts players who are heading off to University the very best of luck. I hope they all continue to play rugby and I look forward to having them back at the club during their holidays.

It is shaping up to be a very exciting season at Shelford RC and I look forward to seeing the many familiar faces cheering the teams on from the sideline!

Will Cotterill
Director of Rugby

See here for a recent article from the Cambridge Independent: https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/sport/fin-creighton-among-a-trio-of-new-additions-for-shelford-rug-9268252/https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/sport/fin-creighton-among-a-trio-of-new-additions-for-shelford-rug-9268252/