Titans strengthen squad

Titans Rugby are pleased to announce two further additions to their 2012-13 Championship squad.

Arriving at Clifton Lane in the summer will be Rory Pitman from the Ospreys and Mike Doneghan from Glasgow Warriors.

Born in Bridgend, 22 year-old Pitman is predominantly a back row player and it is thought Titans coach Andre Bester will use him primarily at number 8. He has represented Wales at U16, U18 and U20 levels and has played for the Swansea-based Ospreys in the Magners League.

Rory joined Glasgow Warriors on a six-month load deal last season, before returning to Wales. He also has National Provincial Championship experience, having had a spell with Taranaki in New Zealand during the summer of 2009. 

Andre Bester believes Pitman has the potential to go a long way as he explained, “Rory was earmarked as an international player in the Welsh game at a young age. At 6’ 5” and 18 stone he’s a big unit and a very good carrier of the ball, he’s also very solid in defence. As I said though, he was earmarked for going the whole way, but unfortunately for him he sustained a big injury whilst playing in the NPC in New Zealand and then developed complications with the injury. That effectively kept him out of the game for 18 months.

“Last year he was contracted to the Osprey’s but had a spell at Glasgow Warriors on loan where he played some Celtic league games. He’s a huge ball-carrying forward, but he’s also a guy who has got the potential to develop beyond that.

“There are certain issues within his game that need sorting out and we will sort those things out when we get to work with him. There are certain technical and tactical aspects that we will improve in his game. Rory’s future in the game will depend on whether he has the ability to be durable and work harder than anybody else, if he does that, then he’ll be back in the frame of becoming an international forward once again.”

Twenty one year-old winger Mike Doneghan joins the Titans with a fine pedigree having represented Scotland in the U20’s Six Nations Championship last year.

At 6’ 1” and 13 ½ stone Mike is a real athlete who possesses genuine pace and he’s someone who Andre Bester is keen to work with, as he remarked, “Michael Doneghan is a Scottish U20 winger and he’s probably the fastest guy over 40 metres that we’ve had for a very long time here at the Titans. He’s a very good strike runner but also a very good supporting player and he’s very aggressive in the contact area.

“We were looking at him in December when we wanted to sign an extra outside back; Glasgow didn’t want to release him and we took Dave McCall. He’s always been rated highly, but he had international wingers in front of him at Glasgow.

“He’s English qualified which is a big plus, but he’s an exceptional talent. I know about the family because his brother Ross played here a couple of years ago. Michael is very confident in his own abilities and has great belief in himself and that’s an asset for a player to have and I believe he has something special to offer Titans Rugby.”