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Coventry agree to three extensions, including Patrick Pellegrini deal

Tonga's Patrick Pellegrini is staying on at Coventry (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images)

Championship high-flyers Coventry have celebrated the end of another promising season by confirming that Tonga out-half Patrick Pellegrini, former England back-rower Matt Kvesic and engine room talisman James Tyas have all signed contract extensions for 2024/25.

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Alex Rae’s side finished third last season, 11 points behind champions Jersey, and they are currently placed second, four points behind leaders Ealing.

However, with their 20-game campaign over, they are likely to lose hold of the runners-up spot as third-place Cornish Pirates still have one game remaining.

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Patrick Pellegrini on his incredible RWC 2023 try vs the Springboks

The Coventry and Tonga fly-half talks about the brilliant try he scored against the World Champions in France

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Patrick Pellegrini on his incredible RWC 2023 try vs the Springboks

The Coventry and Tonga fly-half talks about the brilliant try he scored against the World Champions in France

Consecutive third-place finishes would still be quite an achievement, though, teeing Coventry up for what they hope can be a title-winning season next term.

A statement on their contract extensions read: “Coventry have received a major boost with the confirmation that Tongan World Cup star Pat Pellegrini plus former England flanker Matt Kvesic and experienced lock James Tyas will again be part of their squad next season.

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“Back-to-back top-three finishes have thrust Cov into the spotlight as title contenders for 2024/25, and a lot of this progress has been down to a group of players that really buy into the ethos created by head coach Alex Rae plus his coaching and support team.

“Pellegrini’s 2023/24 Coventry campaign began slightly late due to his call-up by Tonga for a Rugby World Cup campaign in which he scored a memorable try against double world champions South Africa.

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“Since returning to Butts Park Arena, the fly-half has continued to produce the form that earned him international honours, finishing the Championship campaign as the league’s top points scorer.

“He has also created and finished any number of thrilling tries with the trademark sidestep and explosive pace that makes him such a favourite with the Butts Park faithful.

“Kvesic joined the blue-and-whites a year ago and has since gone on to be one of the Championship’s most consistent performers.

“Operating in all three back row positions, the 32-year-old has started 22 of his club’s 25 competitive games this season. In addition to his breakdown skills and powerful ball-carrying, Kvesic has brought invaluable experience to Rae’s young squad.

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“Experienced second row forward Tyas, has signed a new contract that extends his stay at the Butts Park Arena into a fourth year. A measure of Tyas’ importance is that he has started 22 games this season. Indeed, all 61 of his Coventry appearances to date have been as part of the run-on line-up – a very rare feat indeed.

“The details of Tyas’ on-field contribution only tell half the tale, however, since he is also in charge of the club’s analysis team via his company Pro View and is responsible for running Cov’s lineout.”

Coach Rae said: “It’s great to have Pat on board again. There are not many fly-halves who play the way he does. He has played a huge part in the way we want to attack and entertain people. His work ethic and desire to become even better are really impressive and on top of all that he cares deeply and is a fantastic person.

“We also feel very lucky to have a player and person of Matt’s calibre. The way he conducts himself day to day is a great example to our younger players of what a true professional looks like and his performances have been really consistent this season.

“Since James arrived, he has been one of the most consistent performers who every week gives everything he’s got and sets a brilliant example. He is obsessed with getting better every day and is exactly the kind of person we want to be working with and is very much someone for younger players to look up to.”

Tyas added: “I’m already really excited about the future. We have made progress every year and after talking to Alex and Nick (Johnston) their plans for next year are something I really want to be involved with.

“Working with our coaching group has taken my game to another level – I feel challenged and pushed by them to keep improving. I believe I have a few more good years in me and want to spend them seeing just how far we can go as a club.”

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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