University of Gloucestershire Men’s Rugby coaches Chris Downes and Ben Smith named his provisional 27-man squad for this years Varsity clash later in March.
Gloucestershire have failed to win against Worcester in the last two encounters, losing narrowly 20-16 at Sixways Stadium last year and after last Wednesday’s 65-25 battering by Bath 3’s, the coaching staff have accelerated their Varsity preparation, with the club’s drinking ban being rescheduled to two weeks earlier.
The squad sees several first time call ups, including third year student Jools Reimer; the 21-year-old claims he felt great pride when he found out the news of his call-up.
“It’s a massive honour and I’m really excited to be picked; there’s obviously limited spaces so to be picked for the 27- man squad is initially a really good feeling.
But it’s going to be a long six weeks until the game on the 29th of March, so these next six weeks is all about dedication and commitment.”
Other potential debutants for the clash in late March include first years George Clarke, Tom Evans, Aodha Hession and Dan Phillips, while second year Ben Cripps has made the switch from league to union for the derby.
Despite the final 23-man squad yet to be finalised, Reimer insists that the club will united whatever the final omissions; “The hope is that you can make the final 23, but to be honest the whole idea is that everybody is trying to support each other through the whole process.
The end goal is to try and make that final 23, but the next six weeks is all about becoming better and more disciplined in everything that we do.”
The preparation for the derby includes a final game against University of Exeter 4’s on the February 22, with the six week intense training programme taking up the majority of build up for Varsity.
