Cozens can see selection headaches on Clifton horizon
PLAYER-COACH Luke Cozens has had to make way for Clifton‘s new batch of fly-halves who aim to provide a fast, exciting brand of rugby at Station Road this season.
Cozens, 37, looked to have called time on his playing career before the start of last season, but made 20 appearances, scoring 117 points, helping the club finish fourth.
The former Bath and Rouen No.10 says ‘he won’t be playing as things stand, but that could change quickly’.
Ollie Milner has joined from last season’s champions Dings Crusaders after being starved of game time and started yesterday’s game against Exeter University. He’ll compete with Loughborough University graduate Tom Quinlan, who has returned to the area.
Cozens told The Rugby Paper: “If we’ve got some good young lads coming through as a club we should let them crack on, while I concentrate on coaching. As I play 10 it makes coaching easy as you can control what’s going on, but now I have to educate others to do it which is a different skill.
“The two 10s that have come in showed enough in the pre-season games to be interesting. We’ve got a nice mix now of two different styles of play.”
Clifton’s preparations for the season were impacted by postponements and Cozens said: “It was a tough pre-season with a lot of holidays in the squad like usual and a lot of cancellations from other teams. I would have liked another game.”
Thought of by many as promotion candidates, Cozens says there’s no rush to win the title, and is focused on developing their style of play and seeing the young lads grow.
“The brand of rugby is what we want to develop this year, not necessarily the results,” said Cozens. “Whether or not it’s beyond us, we’re going to try. We play rugby to have fun at the weekend because we work all week.
“We’ve got a young lad in Jay Evans who’s 18, featured a bit last term and he’s been outstanding in pre-season. Shay Sainsbury is 19, plays lock or back row. Luke Daniels from Ealing is a full-back we’re excited about, Jamal Hamilton has moved to the area from Leicester Tigers, he can play 13 or wing. Matt Smith has come across from Dings and he’s been in the team of the year during the last two seasons. Fitting them all in is the problem now.”
Cozens believes it’ll be the toughest season since the fourth tier was expanded to three leagues in 2022 and sees Taunton as the title favourites.
He added: “There’s a lot of good teams across the board. Taunton mean business with their signings and I’d put my money on them.”
