The University of Gloucestershire’s Men’s Rugby Union 27-man squad has been announced ahead of their Varsity 6-week training camp.
They will face The University of Worcester’s varsity side in a venue that is yet to be announced however, Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium and the Sixways Stadium that former Premiership side Worcester Warriors used, have been discussed as potential venues to host the much-anticipated Varsity battle.
Cornish-born and Redruth RFC developed prop James Sampson, a player selected for the varsity camp, has risen through the ranks over the past two seasons at UGRFC.
Biology student Sampson started his life at the University of Gloucestershire last season, making his way immediately into the 2’s team and for a large part of the season retaining the starting spot.
“I really enjoyed playing for the 2’s last season, I got consistent playing time and it was fun getting out with the boys for a good run around,” Sampson said.
“It was a tough season though, we really struggled throughout the year and took some very big losses but it made those rare wins even more special.”

Despite getting consistent playing time, Sampson always had the first team on the back of his mind, constantly saying that he wanted to prove himself so that he could one day make that step up and hopefully compete at a Varsity match during his 3 years at the University.
“At the start of this year, a couple of the boys picked up injuries which you never like to see, I obviously don’t wish that on anyone, but it meant that I was given the opportunity to start on the bench for the first team and get a solid 15-20 minutes at the end of games.”
As time went on, Sampson was seen to be making more of an impact from the bench and was eventually trusted with the starting spot.
Despite players in his position coming back from injuries, Sampson has been able to keep his place in the team and found out just days ago that he would be taking part in the 6-week training camp that will include up to six training sessions per week with starts as early as 6 am.
Sampson said “It’s gonna be a tough camp for sure, it’s not gonna be easy but it will help us prepare correctly as all the boys want to break the three-year losing streak”
“As a team, we want to make sure that the team selected is the best, to give us the best possible chance to win, but for me personally I want to do all I can during the next six weeks to get a place in the match day squad and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.”