1. rent role three years
ago – ‘it’s the best job
in the world’ – when
the Chiefs were select-
ed by the Rugby Foot-
ball Union to host a
South West rugby acad-
emy, which every
Premiership side now
has.
The RFU chose the
Chiefs above Plymouth
Albion and the Penz-
ance Pirates to host the
academy given that it
was felt the Exeter out-
fit had the best chance
of playing Premiership
rugby.
That decision was
vindicated when the
Chiefs gained pro-
motion to Eng-
lish rugby’s
top tier last
season and
G i b s o n
n o w
oversees an academy
structure which offers
specialist coaching and
training regimes for tal-
ented young players
alongside their normal
academic studies.
The academy, the
first of the 10 centres of
sporting excellence set
up at the community
college, is for players
aged between 16 and
18.
However, some recr-
uits might stay on for a
third year if Gibson and
his team feel they
would benefit from ex-
tra help if they
are a late
developer.
G i b s o n
s a i d :
‘We’re trying to pro-
mote players to the
highest level of their
ambitions, whether
that’s Premiership or
National League 1, or
whatever.
‘We provide a daily
gym programme and
the members are given
fitness testing three or
four times a year and
take part in team and
individual sessions.
‘At least three times a
day during the week
they are involved in
some sort of rugby-
related activity and
twice a week they train
with the Chiefs and
the older ones
play in the A League.’
Supporting him on
the coaching side are
ex-England Sevens’
flanker Tony Roques
and player-coach at
Newton Abbot, Danny
Porte, along with the
irrepressible Collins.
‘It’s working well,’
says Gibson, matter-of-
factly, when asked
about the success of the
operation.
‘The success of the
academy is partly due
to the environment at
the college where we
have 10 dedicated spor-
ts academies and a cul-
ture of working hard.
‘The rugby boys
are rubbing
s h o u l d e r s
with other
28 Friday, December 24, 2010 www.southhams-today.co.ukIVG
Rob’s rugby revolution
is All Black and white
In the third part of our feature on Ivybridge Community College’s 10
pioneering sports academies, Euan Reedie meets the head of the school’s
Exeter Chiefs’ academy, who was brought up in New Zealand and who
has created a Kiwi-esque culture of excellence and professionalism
COMPARING the New
Zealand All Blacks to
Ivybridge Community
College’s Exeter Chiefs’
rugby academy is ludi-
crous, you might think.
But there are definite
parallels between the
two.
Both play in black
and white, both win
with stunning regulari-
ty and have an array of
players capable of
adapting their game-
plans to the conditions
and opponents – and
both boast a no-non-
sense, straight-talking
manager.
Indeed, while there
may be a yawning gulf
between the respective
responsibilities and
profiles of head honcho
of the All Blacks, Grah-
am Henry and manager
of the Chiefs’ academy
at ICC, Rob Gibson, the
pair share the same
relentless quest for per-
fection.
That’s no coinci-
dence, either, as
Yorkshire-born Gibson
is steeped in the win-
ning mentality and cul-
ture of Kiwi rugby hav-
ing moved to New
Zealand in the 1970s.
He even sounds like
a man from Down
Under and talks with
the quiet authority of
an All Blacks’ coaching
supremo.
And his credentials
are certainly not to be
sniffed at because, as a
coach in Wellington,
Gibson helped coach 13
All Blacks, including
Ma’a Nonu, Piri
Weepu, Cory Jane and
Neemia Tialata.
But now the former
mechanic who gained a
sports qualification in
his mid-30s on his way
to becoming one of the
top rugby coaches in
New Zealand, has his
heart well and truly in
rural Devon.
He is aiming to pro-
duce players capable of
pulling on the Exeter
Chiefs' jersey; or at
least, equipped with
the ability to play the
oval ball game to the
best of their potential.
Gibson came to
England over five years
ago to visit his brother
Phil after a spell coach-
ing the Sri Lankan
Army and ‘living like a
king and being paid
like a pauper.’ And,
due to the tragedy of
the 2004 tsunami which
devastated Sri Lanka
and a chance meeting
with the man who
established rugby as a
core sport at the com-
munity college in 1987,
current deputy princi-
pal Malcolm Collins,
Gibson returned to the
country of his birth.
Collins was so
impressed with Gib-
son's credentials – he is
a Level 5 coach, the top
coaching qualification
in New Zealand – that
he offered him a job
coaching rugby.
And Gibson’s admi-
ration for Collins is
mutual, describing him
as a ‘real driving force’
whose ‘infectious pas-
sion’ provided the plat-
form for rugby to really
take off. I don’t know
where he gets his ener-
gy from,’ said Gibson.
He started his cur-
sports people at the top
of their game, and also
achievers in disciplines
that are not sporting.’
Earlier this year, the
arrival of sports thera-
pist Tom Cresswell,
strength and condition-
ing coach Andy Taylor
and sport psychology
support Peter Mogan to
support the work of the
school’s 10 sports acad-
emies has added anoth-
er layer of professional-
ism to the Chiefs’ huge-
ly impressive set-up.
‘The specialist team
can help us improve
and progress even fur-
ther; it’s a quite incredi-
ble team,’ the 50-year-
old added.
‘As long as we can
help them (the boys)
physically and tactical-
ly, anything can be
achieved. I feel certain
that Ivybridge can add
to the tally of England
caps.’
The fact that three
current England Un-
der-18s – full-back Jack
Arnott and centres Sam
Jones and Sam Hill are
part of the academy –
underscores Gibson's
conviction.
What’s more, the
academy side were, at
the time of going to
press, unbeaten in the
Advanced Apprentic-
eship in Sporting Exce-
llence (AASE) South
Group League this sea-
son and were runners
up to Hartpury in
2009/10.
It’s a multi-talented
bunch who boast ‘a
massive pack’ and
backs who love to
express themselves,
says Gibson, who rev-
ealed a recent addition
to the squad is the
totemic, quite literally,
6ft 10ins lock Will
Carrick-Smith.
But Gibson is not sat-
isfied with constant
success on a parochial
level and has a raging
desire for his side to be
tested at the highest
standard possible.
As such, he’s taken
his boys twice to the
Sanix World Youth
Tournament in Japan,
where they will again
fly the flag for England
next year, to the
renowned Blackrock
College in Dublin and
they have also taken on
the London Wasps’,
London Irish and
Leicester academies.
And he’d more than
delighted if the AASE
leagues were amalga-
mated and Ivybridge
could meet high-quality
sides further north.
Gibson said: ‘We
don’t play anyone in
Devon really; it’s hard
to get decent competi-
tion down here. We
travel miles and miles
week in week out.’
‘That’s not to say it’s
not a good standard
here, but, big-headedly,
we like to think we are
leading the way by a
long way.’
And, somewhat sur-
prisingly, winning is
not everything for
Gibson.
He explained: ‘The-
re’s no point in win-
ning comfortably by 60
points every week. You
learn more from losing
than you do from beat-
ing sides.
‘We’re teaching the
boys that there’s not
always going to be suc-
cess, but failures as
well.’
The Ivybridge sche-
me also embraces tech-
nology which is a sta-
ple part of any profes-
sional sports institution
these days.
He said: ‘We video
all our matches and
encourage players to
tag their own videos,
which makes them
think about their game
and become independ-
ent thinkers.’
But Gibson stressed
the academy is not just
rugby-oriented, com-
menting: ‘The academ-
ic side is primary.
‘Very few players
make it to the profes-
sional scene.
‘If we can’t produce
professional rugby
players, we at least
make the members into
better people.
'We have a responsi-
bility to their parents.’
Continued on p29
by EUAN
REEDIE
Pictures by Nic Randall
Buy these pictures at www.buypicture.net by putting in the respective codes.
Above, academy rugby manager, Rob Gibson, in front of some of the international
shirts worn by members of the school throughout the years (11120121); below,
academy members, from left, Jack Arnott, Sam Jones and Kieran Davies (11120085)
‘The success of the
academy is partly due
to the environment at
the college where we
have 10 dedicated
sports academies and
a culture of
working hard’
‘Big-headedly, we
like to think we are
leading the way by
a long way’