Twelvetrees can do great job for England says Taylor
ENGLAND’S coaches should begin taking notice of Gloucester, according to Kingsholm backs guru Tim Taylor, who reckons a number of the high-flying club’s rising stars are worthy of an appearance on Eddie Jones’ radar.
Four poor years, allied to Jonny May’s summer move, have seen Gloucester’s Red Rose representation slump to zero.
However, with Gloucester second in the Premiership, Taylor told
The Rugby Paper: “We had massive injuries at the start but boys coming in like Lewis Ludlow, Jake Polledri, Freddie Clark, Ben Vellacott and Tom Hudson have been magnificent.
“Johan Ackermann’s not afraid to give boys chances and it would be great if England took notice because we want to push guys to play at the highest level, but we’ll just concentrate on what we can do to make them better players.”
Forgotten England man Billy Twelvetrees, below, has also proved a revelation and could yet offer an answer to Jones’s insidecentre conundrum. Taylor added: “Billy’s played a lot of rugby this year and the great thing is he can play at 10, 12 and 13. He’s a top senior pro who gives you options across the midfield. “Billy, left, is just concentrating on his own game with us and he works very hard on and off the field, but he’ll still have that goal to play for England and if an opportunity comes to fill that No.12 shirt, he’d grab it and do a really great job.”
Gloucester’s resurgence has coincided with Hartpury’s rise into the Championship – no surprise according to former Nottingham fly-half Taylor, who witnessed something similar at his old club before heading to Kingsholm in 2010.
“Nottingham had a similar relationship with Leicester and we had players like Dan Cole, Tom Youngs and a young Twelvetrees with us, just as guys like Polledri, Ludlow, Vellacott have come through from Hartpury now,” Taylor said.
“We’ve had Will Safe, Harry Randall and Lloyd Evans turning out for Hartpury this season as well, so it’s a great two-way relationship.”
After recently signing a new contract to stay at Kingsholm until 2019, Taylor is excited by Gloucester’s progress under new rugby director Ackermann.
He added: “I really want this club to go places because it’s got so much history and the support base in this city is phenomenal.
“Johan gives the boys license to play with a lot of ambition and confidence and we’re getting the balance to our game right.
“We’re in a good spot and signing a new contract was an easy decision to make. We want to achieve something really special.”