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Meet the son of a former England skipper who has inked his first senior deal

Tom de Glanville, here on England under-20s duty earlier in 2019, has signed his first senior deal at Bath (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The son of a former England captain has taken a progressive step forward towards following in father’s footsteps after signing his first senior contract at a Gallagher Premiership club. 

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Phil de Glanville was a 38-cap Test centre who succeeded Will Carling as English skipper in 1996. He was also part of Bath side that annually fought it out with Leicester over the course of the 90s for domestic honours.

Now his 19-year-old son, academy backline general Tom, has inked his first senior contract at the Rec after representing England at the recent World Under-20 Championship. 

De Glanville said: “Having grown up in Bath, there’s no greater thing than playing at the Rec. It’s every boy’s dream in this area and I feel fortunate that I’m in that position where I’m living out my dream.

“There’s real excitement in the squad about the season ahead and a real focus and drive to achieve. I grew up watching Stuart (Hooper) at the Rec, so to have him working in tandem with Andy (Rock, performance director) and the rest of the coaching set-up, it will only help my development as a player.”

Director of rugby Hooper added: “Tom is someone who has progressed right through the pathway into the senior squad, which is a testament to his hard work and skill-set. 

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“We are building a squad of young men who care deeply about this club, who have the drive, qualities and ambition to be part of a successful team.

“Tom’s experiences last season, culminating with the World Rugby Under-20 Championship, has only gone to support his growth, and he will undoubtedly play a fundamental role in many years to come.”

De Glanville joins Miles Reid and Will Vaughan in the senior squad this summer, with Bath committed to developing players through the academy to reach the highest levels of the game and to produce a senior squad comprising of 50 per cent homegrown players by 2023.

WATCH: Part one of The Academy, the six-part RugbyPass documentary series on how Leicester Tigers develop their young players

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G
GrahamVF 1 hour ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

"has SA actually EVER helped to develop another union to maturity like NZ has with Japan," yes - Argentina. You obviously don't know the history of Argentinian rugby. SA were touring there on long development tours in the 1950's

We continued the Junior Bok tours to the Argentine through to the early 70's

My coach at Grey High was Giepie Wentzel who toured Argentine as a fly half. He told me about how every Argentinian rugby club has pictures of Van Heerden and Danie Craven on prominent display. Yes we have developed a nation far more than NZ has done for Japan. And BTW Sa players were playing and coaching in Japan long before the Kiwis arrived. Fourie du Preez and many others were playing there 15 years ago.


"Isaac Van Heerden's reputation as an innovative coach had spread to Argentina, and he was invited to Buenos Aires to help the Pumas prepare for their first visit to South Africa in 1965.[1][2] Despite Argentina faring badly in this tour,[2] it was the start of a long and happy relationship between Van Heerden and the Pumas. Izak van Heerden took leave from his teaching post in Durban, relocated to Argentina, learnt fluent Spanish, and would revolutionise Argentine play in the late 1960s, laying the way open for great players such as Hugo Porta.[1][2] Van Heerden virtually invented the "tight loose" form of play, an area in which the Argentines would come to excel, and which would become a hallmark of their playing style. The Pumas repaid the initial debt, by beating the Junior Springboks at Ellis Park, and emerged as one of the better modern rugby nations, thanks largely to the talents of this Durban schoolmaster.[1]"


After the promise made by Junior Springbok manager JF Louw at the end of a 12-game tour to Argentina in 1959 – ‘I will do everything to ensure we invite you to tour our country’ – there were concerns about the strength of Argentinian rugby. South African Rugby Board president Danie Craven sent coach Izak van Heerden to help the Pumas prepare and they repaid the favour by beating the Junior Springboks at Ellis Park.

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