Gloucester Rugby Koree Britton in Dual Registration with Cinderford
Foresters On Form for Away Win at Blackheath Rugby
Saturday 29 February
KO 3.00pm National 1
Following a great home win against Blaydon last weekend with a four try BP, Cinderford is upbeat and confident to take their good form to Blackheath. The Foresters also welcome Gloucester Rugby hooker, Koree Britton to the squad who, with dual registration, will be available to play for Cinderford for the remainder of the season. Koree joins fellow Gloucester players in the Cinderford squad: Tom Hicks, Tom Heard, Ryan Charles, Reece Boughton and Andrew Bulumakau.
Said Andy Deacon, director of rugby: “As we enter the last third of the season, with 10 games to go, it’s all for us to do, and Jack Adams comes back after being named man-of-the-match in England Counties’ narrow defeat to Ireland. As part of our close relationship with Gloucester Rugby we have agreed terms for EAP Koree Britton, under dual registration to join the squad. He is a big ball carrier with attitude, power and pace and we will take advantage of sharing his experience at the club. Koree knows most of the guys already and played a few games for us a couple of seasons ago. He has trained with us this week and comes onto the bench for Saturday.”
Said Koree Britton: “I have nursed a few injuries this season and by playing for Cinderford in National 1, I will gain vital game time to further develop my skills and ability. You can train as hard as you can but it’s not the same as playing in competitive matches, on a regular basis, and this experience will allow me to prepare and push for a first team place back at Gloucester.”
Looking back at last week’s victory with a smile, Deacs said: “I was really pleased with the result against Blaydon. It wasn’t a perfect performance in the first-half but the boys worked really hard and we just got better and better as the game went on. Overall it was very pleasing and a good bonus-point win as getting the four points was absolutely vital. It was brilliant to see Nev Codlin blaze over for a hat trick, demonstrating power and strength to beat a few defenders and with two tries coming from blindside breaks from Mike Wilcox, which he finished. Sam Baker scored his first First XV try since joining us and Clive Stuart-Smith and Mark Davies controlled things very well.”
“We worked really hard in defence because they kept the ball for long periods. We fell off a couple of tackles for the one try but apart from that we were pretty good. Blackheath, Richmond and Tyndale seem to have put things together, which makes this weekend’s match a more challenging. We usually we always do well at Blackheath and we did beat them 25-0 earlier this season. They have obviously improved a huge amount but we have confidence and momentum.”
Other team news sees Cinderford United stay at home to play Blackheath Rugby, kicking off at 2.30pm.
Cinderford RFC / @cinderfordrfc v Blackheath Rugby / @blackheathrugby
Backs:
15. Mike Wilcox
14. Nev Codlin
13. Jack Adams
12. Robbie Winchle
11. Sam Baker
10. Mark Davies
9. Clive Stuart-Smith
Forwards:
1. Will Davis
2. Tom Bozzard
3. Elliot Booley
4. Ed King
5. Tom Hicks
6. Roger Birkin
7. Will Keenan
8. George Evans ©
Replacements:
16. Chris Bundy
17. Koree Britton
18. Lance Randall
19. George Mills
20. Stef Hawley
About Koree Britton: A former player with Exeter Chiefs from the U10 age group to Colts, he first laced up his boots at the age of four at Dartmouth RFC. His range of representative honours spans England U20s, England U18s, England U16A, Devon U15 and U16, the South West U16-18 and Gloucestershire U18 and he has also been a member of successful sevens sides. Playing the abbreviated game illustrated his versatility that is also reflected in his initial days as a centre before moving to prop and then to hooker. He was part of the England U20 squad who won the 2011 Six Nations Grand Slam and the 2012 Six Nations title. He was also a member of the 2011 and 2012 England U20 Junior World Cup squads. Koree’s been a regular in the Gloucester first team squad since 2012.