THE Gloucester Rugby Academy will have a new structure in place for the 2010-11 season with the appointment of Allan Lewis, current Head Coach at Hartpury College, as Academy Director.

The Academy has been a rich source of young talent for the Gloucester Rugby first team squad in recent seasons with a large number of the current senior squad having been developed through the Academy system.

Only last June the likes of Freddie Burns, Shaun Knight and Jonny May were on England duty in the Junior World Cup in Argentina whilst the previous year saw Dave Lewis, Charlie Sharples and Henry Trinder on duty.

Allan will oversee a Senior Academy Manager, Mark Cornwell, who is responsible for the coaching and general management of players aged 18-24 as well as a Junior Academy Manager, Phil Greenaway, who is responsible for those aged 14-18.

Under Allan’s tutelage, the Hartpury College side has gone from strength to strength and won a number of titles including the the British Universities and Colleges Champions (BUCS) three years in succession, the EDF Junior and Senior Vases, the EDF Intermediate Cup and more recently following year on year promotion over six successive seasons the RFU Level Six Champions Cup .

Allan’s previous experience includes coaching the Wales U15, U19 and U21 teams which led to his appointment as National Senior A team coach and the National three quarter coach.

He was also a National Selector for Wales between 1998 and 2001, and has also held many coaching roles at clubs including Llanelli, Moseley, Newport, Bridgend and the Celtic Warriors.

His role as Academy Director will see him have overall responsibility for Player Development, ensuring consistency of quality and content across all levels of the Academy.

He will continue to coach the Hartpury College RFC side and will now take responsibility for coaching the Gloucester Rugby side competing in the A League.

Ken Nottage, Gloucester Rugby’s MD, told the club website: "Developing local talent is vital for any rugby club and Allan, with his proven pedigree in this area is clearly going to make our Academy stronger.

"Our relationship with Hartpury College has gone from strength to strength over the years and Allan’s appointment will strengthen it further."

Allan Lewis commented on his appointment: "I regard it as a privilege to be appointed as the Rugby Academy Director and to be associated with such an internationally respected rugby club. Gloucestershire is well known as a stronghold for rugby and Gloucester Rugby lies at the heart of this extremely vibrant community.

"My aim together with Phil (Greenaway) and Mark (Cornwell) is to identify and develop the young local gifted players and provide them with a pathway to represent Gloucester in the near future and hopefully to gain international honours with England."