Students among 30-strong England Rugby men’s squad training at University of Bath ahead of All Blacks showdown
Rising stars of England Rugby, including three current or former University of Bath students, are training at Team Bath this week ahead of an international showdown with New Zealand.
A 30-strong England Men A squad is using the Sports Training Village facilities – including the Team Bath Gym, sports hall, indoor sprint track and St John’s grass pitches – to prepare for Saturday’s match against their All Blacks counterparts at The Rec.
Among the players are Sports Performance students Vilikesa ‘Billy’ Sela and Kepu Tuipulotu, who are making the step up from the England U20 squad and hoping to make their first A appearances this weekend.
Bath Rugby treble winner Max Ojomoh, who made his senior England debut this summer just days after graduating in Business, is also in the squad. He, like Sela and Tuipulotu, has represented the University men’s 1st XV in BUCS Super Rugby.
Nathan Catt, whose first coaching experience was with the University while playing at Bath Rugby, was back at the STV as part of the England set-up and two current University student rugby players, Freddy Rossigneux and Jamie Howick, had the opportunity to train with the squad during Tuesday’s on-pitch session.
The University has proudly hosted England Rugby training camps on many occasions, dating back to the first in 1987. The senior men’s squad were regular visitors from 2007-2009 and returned again during the 2016 Six Nations, while the women’s squad enjoyed month-long training camps at the Sports Training Village in 2021 and 2022.
Sela, Tuipulotu and Ojomoh are among several past and present Bath students on international duty this Autumn.
Sports Performance student Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi has been named in the senior Italy squad for the first time for their Quilter Nations Series matches against Australia, South Africa and Chile.
The England squad – led by University of Bath Hall of Fame inductee Steve Borthwick – includes Jack Kenningham, Harlequins’ Player of the Year last season, while fellow Sports Performance graduates Louie Hennessey and Archie Griffin are in the Wales squad.
Visit teambath.com/rugby to find out more about the rugby programme at the University of Bath.
