English Premiership side Gloucester has officially formed a relationship with Kingswood College, the co-educational boarding school in the Eastern Cape.

The new partnership was announced by Gloucester on Thursday and, according to a club statement, it will share the Gloucester Academy methods of youth development in rugby with the school.

The statement emphasises that the Gloucester Academy is focused on developing individuals into better people while still remaining primarily focused on investing in home-grown players.

However, it mentions the aim of this affiliation is to further enhance Gloucester’s academy programme.

This is not the first deal of its kind with a South African school. In 2017, it was confirmed that French giants Montpellier, in partnership with an unknown benefactor, have launched a unique scholarship programme at Grey College.

Part of that partnership had Montpellier making resources available to Grey College, including sharing coaching methods and exchange programmes for rugby coaches.

“We are delighted to form a relationship with Kingswood College in Grahamstown, South Africa,” Carl Hogg, Gloucester Rugby director of academy and development said in a statement.

“Kingswood College and the Gloucester Rugby Academy share a similar vision to create a lifelong love of rugby while advancing personal growth, valuable skills and an understanding of the core values through sport. Through participation in the team sport of rugby, we will look to enhance and cultivate teamwork, cohesion, and leadership.

“Our relationship with Kingswood allows us to enrich our programme using insights of coaching methods used in a completely different hemisphere.

“We look forward to sharing ideas and thoughts about player development, with the ultimate aim of enabling our individuals to fulfil their potential.”

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