COVENTRY Rugby have announced that 13 players have been drafted into the club’s Development Academy for the forthcoming season.
Nine of the group are new additions, with back rows Archie Strath (18) and George Parker (18), hooker Shaun Allsopp (18), prop Ed Prowse (18), lock Harry Charter (18), scrum-half Fin Creighton (19), centre Paul Wells (18), centre and wing player Louis Beer (18) and full back Cameron Sharpe (17) all joining Coventry.
Meanwhile, the quarter of back rows Freddie Betteridge (19) and Sam McNulty (23), and second row Kailus Hutchinson (21) and centre Max Titchener (22) have all extended their stay for another season.
Tight-head prop David Langley also joins, having been at Wasps for the past two seasons.
The group will all continue combining playing and training commitments with coaching, expanding the community work that the club are doing, which Coventry director of rugby Rowland Winter believes is a huge positive for the city.
“We’re committed to bringing through the best youngsters to represent the city in our first team, and all of these players have the potential to be successful in their careers,” he said.
“Because they will also be coaching they will be getting a proper sense of what Coventry Rugby as a club means to the city as a whole, and this will help give them more of an identity as a group.
“We enjoy working with them and are looking forward to seeing them develop this season.”
Winter also believes the club can provide the perfect basis for new arrival Langley to succeed.
“I know David well from our time together at Cambridge and he has progressed well since joining Wasps.
“He has plenty of potential and a great attitude to learning and I am looking forward to him joining Coventry to continue his development.”
