Gloucester Rugby is poised to complete its coaching lineup following a summer of significant changes, with Ryan Bower expected to be appointed as the club’s new scrum coach. This move strengthens the growing influence of Leicester Tigers alumni at Kingsholm.
Earlier in the year, Gloucester revealed a broad coaching restructure that included recruiting Brett Deacon from Leicester Tigers as the forwards coach. Deacon and Bower were teammates at Welford Road, linking the two coaching appointments.
Trevor Woodman, the former World Cup-winning prop who served as Gloucester’s scrum coach, saw his contract end this summer. His position was made redundant to fund the newly created forwards coach role that Deacon now occupies. Woodman, credited with developing a formidable scrum pack during his tenure, has since taken up the scrum coach role at Connacht in the United Rugby Championship.
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According to RugbyPass, Gloucester will bring in Bower to specialize in scrum development. At just 35 years old, Bower has properly prepared for coaching, serving as scrum and breakdown coach at Hartpury RFC, leading the U17 team at Hartpury College, and contributing to training within the Gloucester academy system.
As a player, Bower was a loosehead prop who graduated from the Leicester Tigers academy before enjoying a successful career with nearly 200 Premiership appearances for Tigers, Worcester Warriors, and London Irish. He concluded his playing days with the Dallas Jackals in Major League Rugby (MLR) in the United States.
Other recent Kingsholm coaching changes include George Skivington returning to his role as head coach after a stint as director of rugby, Chris Boyd joining as technical director, and Rob Burgess’s return as general manager of rugby. Additionally, former dual-code international Joel Tomkins has been appointed as defence coach.
An official announcement regarding Bower’s appointment is expected soon.