The Forrester Fellow

James Forrester has signed on the dotted line today in a new deal that will keep the expressionist back row rascal at the city club until 2010.This news pleases me. Like Ryan Lamb, Forrester thrives more obviously on harder pitches, and when the ground is firm and a warm sun is on his back there are fewer more abundant talents to value. I would suggest that – and I type this as the rain lashes against my Longlevens windowpane – James needs to prove himself more consistently on the wintry mud plains and tag a bit of unfashionable Bucko-ism onto the rest of his bewitching talents. As things stand, I’m relieved he remains at Kingsholm; there are few match winners and gain line breakers of his quality in the English game and I hope to see his talent fully fulfilled in the next stage of his career.

Like a sucker, I always fall for the spin that accompanies any new signing or re-signing at Kingsholm and allow my eyes to mist over at the gorgeous expressions of appreciation the coaches seem to reserve for the new or renewed players, and the players for the city club. On closer inspection, I can’t believe James Forrester actually uttered these words today: “As a group we are very clear about where we are heading. The coaching environment is really stimulating and the players are given the responsibility to go out and play attacking rugby, which suits my game perfectly. The training facilities at Hartpury College are the best I’ve seen at club level, so the whole package is there.” He didn’t really say that, did he?