Following the 2022 Student Rugby League Tri-Nations, played in Galway, Ireland between England, Scotland and Ireland in June 2022, Head Coach Richard Tate confirmed his intention to step down from the role of Head Coach to focus on his coaching commitments within Hull FC’s youth grades.
Tate joined England Universities as Assistant Coach in 2017 ahead of the Student Rugby League World Cup taking place in Sydney and moved into the Head Coach position for the following year, leading England to victory in both the RFL President’s Cup and a Student Four Nations trophy, with a further Four Nations trophy following in 2019.
With an England team selected and having undertaken a camp, Tate led online activities with the group in 2020 during lockdown before the eventual decision to cancel the programme for the year, but resumed his role in 2022 leading England to victory in Galway and despite missing out on the President’s Cup itself, beating the winners UK Armed Forces.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time within the England Universities programme over the past five years”, said Richard Tate. “All the staff that I have had the pleasure to work alongside, especially Kevin Deighton and David Butler, have become like family to me and I will always be thankful to all the players I’ve had the pleasure to work with throughout my time in post. The University game is a hot bed of talent and each year we see players who come into the programme, grow as people and progress onto higher level playing opportunities outside of the student game, as a direct result of their involvement. Its been a pleasure to represent my country at this level and I will continue to take a keen interest and support the team as it moves into another new era.”
The RFL have moved to replace Tate with Kevin Deighton who joined the programme as Assistant Coach in 2018. Deighton is an immensely experienced coach with Super League and Championship experience and is currently coaching and mentoring coaches at various levels at Hull Kingston Rovers.
“Its an honour to be given the role of Head Coach” added Kevin Deighton. “Since I first got involved in 2018 I’ve seen the programme and the standard of players improve year on year and its been a pleasure to see players playing for their country and be able to use the experience to go on and further their careers within the game. I’d like to thank the RFL for putting the faith in me to lead the programme and look forward to staring selections later this year with the Inter-Regional games as we prepare for the 2023 Four Nations in Wales and look forward to continuing the good work that Richard Tate has put in during his time with the programme.”
The RFL confirming the rest of the staff remain in place; James Strudwick (S&C Coach), Keith Burnett (Sports Therapist) and David Butler (Team Manager).
Recruitment for an Assistant Coach will commence shortly.
