With the RGC Academy under two years old, Marc Roberts, WRU Performance Director, is sure that the benefits can already be seen
Picture shows Marc Grey and Danny Steadman before last Wednesday's game.
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One of the most pleasing features of last week's RGC 1404 win over the North Wales Presidents XV was the large number of players from this year's Under 18 side playing. In all eight members of that side played at some stage for the RGC 1404 team and this number would have been increased further were it not for another four being unavailable through injury. The fact that they in no way looked out of place competing with the best senior players in the North Wales region speaks volumes both for their abilities and the coaching regime that they have experienced through the North Wales Academy.
Speaking after the game Marc Roberts WRU Performance Development Manager said, "It is really positive to see so many academy players making the transition into the senior team so quickly. It's testament to the quality of the environment that we have created in the academy and Regional Age Grade squads. It's also a refection on the hard work of Stewart Milne and Josh Leach who are delivering a quality technical, tactical and physical programmes on a daily basis with our academic partners of Rydal Penrhos school and Llandrillo College Cymru.
It is sometimes easy to forget that the WRU RGC academy still isn't two years old until September 2012, and it is clear from the number of players successfully making the transition that the program is fit for purpose. Within the academy environment we challenge the players and ourselves daily to make sure we are working to the highest standards possible. We are becoming far less generic in the way we are approaching the programmes and our role is to make sure that each individual player is developing into a fully skilled rugby athlete. It is important not to underestimate the value of working in partnership with Conwy Council as together we have created a true Performance environment in Eirias which truly represents the professional nature of the academy and senior RGC 1404 team."
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