Cardiff Rugby Academy Manager Gruff Rees says the club is taking a broad view of its regional pathway as the new schools and colleges season gets underway.

Following an extended summer programme with the Under-18s, the focus has now shifted towards working closely with schools and colleges, monitoring players across the region and ensuring that individual development plans remain consistent throughout the season.

The schools and colleges league got underway last week, providing another important opportunity for Cardiff’s Academy staff to observe players in a competitive environment, while continuing to support those already within the pathway.

“We’ve just come off the back of a really productive Under-18s block in the summer, and now we’re moving into that time of year where we work closely with the schools and colleges,” said Rees.

“The schools and colleges league has started, so we’re looking at monitoring and observing our junior Academy players, making sure their individual development plans are being supported consistently through the schools and colleges, and that continues through to half term and into the next part of the block.”

While continuing to monitor players already involved in the pathway, Rees says the Academy staff are also keen to maintain a wider view of the talent available across the region.

Cardiff’s staff have already been monitoring a number of players during the opening weeks of the campaign, with early-season performances providing opportunities for new names to emerge.

“It’s important for us to have a wider view and not just be close to a small group of players in terms of the opportunities in Cardiff,” added Rees.

“We’re looking at it with a fresh lens in terms of selection opportunities for the Under-18s and beyond. Even after a couple of pre-season games and the first week of the block, we’re seeing some boys really standing out.

“There were some terrific individual performances in good victories for Cymoedd, Glantaf and Whitchurch respectively.

“We’ve been looking at Cardiff and the Vale footage, and some of those players have really stood up well. There’s also a nice group at Christ College Brecon and elsewhere who have been involved in our pathway who we’re monitoring and supporting.

“There’s a really wide view of the schools and colleges league, and myself and all of the coaching and senior Academy staff are really invested in that process.”

That wider approach also extends into Cardiff Rugby’s work with the younger age groups, with Rees, Talent and Pathway Manager Aled James and Stuart Bradfield, EPP / U16’s Districts Lead, continuing to work across the regional pathway.

The Dewar Shield U16’s District programme provides an important source of talent identification as players progress through the pathway, while the Academy staff are also using additional development opportunities to identify and support players who may be ready for greater challenges.

“We’ve been doing quite a concerted bit of work around the district programme, looking at the players and working with each of the districts through the summer,” said Rees.

“It’s a key source of talent identification for us as we move towards the culmination of that programme and into the competitive phase.

“We need to be really across all the players across all the district groups, which is easier said than done when you’ve got such a large pool to look at. But again, it’s about looking at the wider groups and seeing who is stepping up.”

Alongside regular monitoring, Cardiff have also been running a number of masterclasses designed to provide additional development opportunities for players who have caught the eye of Academy staff.

The sessions are deliberately flexible, with the coaching team continuing to assess and adapt the programme as they learn more about the players involved.

“We’ve been running some masterclasses, highlighting certain players who, at this moment in time, have caught our eye,” Rees explained.

“There’s a development element behind those evenings, and it’s not a closed shop. We’re monitoring and tweaking it every time we run one.

“We’ll be running another one on October 10th, so again it’s about building those close relationships with some of our Under-16 group in preparation for when they come into our Cardiff Rugby regional age grade 16’s programme.”

For Rees, that forward planning is an important part of ensuring the pathway remains connected, with the Academy looking beyond the immediate development needs of players and considering where they could progress over the next 12 to 24 months.

It also allows the club to identify and retain talent within the region while providing players with meaningful high-performance experiences at the appropriate stage of their development.

“It’s important for us to be ahead of the curve in terms of recruitment and retention of players in the region,” he added.

“We think we’re doing that, and it’s another example of Cardiff Rugby staff looking at all the players in this space and working closely with our Academy staff to provide real high-performance opportunities for the guys in the short term, while mapping out what the next year, 18 months or two years looks like from a rugby point of view.

“Even though we’ve obviously been focused around the Under-18s and Senior Academy in terms of the day-to-day work, there’s always a wider picture at play.

“We’re really mindful of that, and proud of what we can look at in terms of the next couple of years, because there’s some really exciting talent in the region.”