Ben Stevenson, James Tideswell and Greg Bateman sign with London Welsh – Rugby news
Old Deer Park, London based English Rugby Union team, London Welsh, has acquired the services of Ben Stevenson, James Tideswell, and Greg Bateman. The announcement was officially made today at a press conference.
London Welsh compete in the Rugby Football Union’s English RFU championship and the Welsh finished fourth on the 2010-11 championship tables, with 68 points winning 14 of their 22 games in the season.
The 23-year-old Ben Stevenson is a utility back player and can play at both fly half and scrum half position. Ben is a London Irish Academy product and has previously played for the Welsh squad when he was on loan to them. His first stay included 28 impressive
appearances, which may have been the reason behind his signing.
Ben is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weigh 80kg and joined the Irish Academy in July 2007. After spending a season there, he switched to Northampton Saints but rejoined Irish in 2009. Ben has also represented England’s national Under-16 rugby union team.
This is the first full contract Ben has secured with the London Welsh. Ben has termed the club environment as very friendly and praised the facilities provided by the club to players particularly the off-field facilities.
Bournemouth born Ben, has represented the Welsh in two different RFU championship seasons and has expressed his disappointment for not finishing the season strongly. He said, “You're always looking to go one step further but to get to the semi-finals again
was a good feat, but all the boys were obviously very disappointed.”
Former London Irish prop James Tideswell joined the Irish in 2009. Tideswell has also represented the Stourbridge RFC, Plymouth Albion and London Welsh. The 28-year-old prop Tideswell made his Irish debut against Harlequins in an Anglo-Welsh encounter in
January 2010. He so far had made 11 appearances for the club.
Earlier in the last season, Burton-on-Trent born Tideswell trained with the London Welsh senior squad. Like Ben, Tideswell has also expressed hopes that the Welsh may qualify for spot in the English Premiership in the next season. He said, “I know Welsh
have reached the semi-finals in the last two seasons, so I'm hoping that with the players the club are recruiting and the players that are staying on we can push on and get to the final.”
Besides Stevenson and Tideswell, London Welsh has also secured the services of the Harlequins academy product, Greg Bateman. He plays as prop and has represented the England Under-18 national rugby union team.
Besides playing for England Under-18, Bateman has played for South East side Dorking and National League Three London. The 21-year-old Bateman has expressed his excitement at securing a full time contract to develop his skills. The future looks bright for
the London Welsh as they add to their arsenal in hopes of securing a win in the upcoming championship.
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