Tristan Roberts (born 23 March 1987 in Maidstone, England) is a rugby union player who currently plays for Esher in National League 1, having previously been at US Cognac (France's third division) and Ealing Trailfinders (RFU Championship).[1] He has represented both the England Students and the England Counties XV and during his rugby career has progressed from playing in the fourth tier with Cinderford to playing in the Premiership with London Welsh. Tristan has played much of his career at fly-half and has a reputation as a very reliable points kicker who is also excellent at drop kicks.
| Birth name | Tristan Daniel Roberts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 23 March 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Maidstone, Kent, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 82 kg (12 st 13 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Sutton Valence School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Playing career
editEarly career
editA late developer when it came to rugby union, Tristan focused on hockey at school playing at county level. He first started seriously playing rugby at 16 and found that this was the sport for him, appearing for the youth team of his local rugby team - Sevenoaks.[2] At 17 he moved to Hartpury College to further his rugby education and was later picked up by Cinderford, then playing in National Division Three South, and was made part of the squad for the 2006-07 season.[3] Tristan made 11 appearances in his first season, scoring 105 points including four drop kicks which earned him call-ups for both Kent and English Counties XV at the end of 2007.[4] A second season for the Gloucestershire side saw Tristan become a regular fixture in the first team, finishing as the fourth top points scorer in the league with 187 points from 19 games, and helping ultimately helping Cinderford to gain promotion to National Division Two (although he did not feature in their playoff game).[5] After impressing at Cinderford, Tristan was picked up by Gloucester where he would become part of their academy squad.[6] He played a number of academy games but was unable to instantly break into the first team and was instead loaned to Moseley for experience.[7]
Moseley
editTristan joined the Moseley for the start of the 2008-09 season plying his trade in National Division One. Despite playing at a league two levels higher than that of Cinderford, Tristan managed to play 22 games in all competitions, scoring 169 points, helping the Birmingham-based side to a mid-table position and also contributing 10 points against Leeds Carnegie at Twickenham to claim the 2009 EDF Energy National Trophy 23 - 18.[8] Changes to the English league system saw National Division One be rebranded to the Championship for the 2009-10 season and with only 12 teams it was much more competitive with Moseley finishing 9th at the end of the regular season and being placed in the new format relegation group. Moseley survived the relegation group by finishing 2nd and Tristan had the best season of his career in scoring terms - being the top scorer in the league at the end of the regular season and finishing 3rd overall with 267 points from 26 games.[9][10]
Doncaster Knights / Bristol
editAfter two seasons at Moseley, Tristan moved north to join Doncaster Knights.[11] He only spent a year at Castle Park but scored 358 points in 30 games across all competitions which attracted the interest of former Premiership team Bristol who signed Tristan for the 2011-12 season.[12] Although he had a good first season for Bristol, the club failed to win promotion despite topping the league table, as they went out of the playoff semi finals due to a shock 53 - 63 aggregate defeat to the Cornish Pirates.[13] The ever increasing pressure at Bristol to gain promotion would lead to Tristan becoming a squad player rather than starter and he was released at the end of 2014, joining London Welsh in the summer.[14]
London Welsh / Ealing Trailfinders
editIt was somewhat ironic that despite being released by Bristol he managed to achieve something they were desperate for - Premiership rugby - which Welsh had gained at Bristol's expense. Other than that it was neither a good season for Tristan or his club as they struggled to attract fans to their ground at Oxford and were relegated from the Premiership having failed to win a single game. Although Tristan played a number of matches he was unable to become a regular and left the club in 2015 to join Ealing Trailfinders.[15] After the 2015–16 season Tristan left Ealing to start a new adventure in France with US Cognac who play in Fédérale 1 (division 3 of the French rugby union league system).[16]
Season-by-season stats
editHonours
editMoseley
International/Representative
- Represented England Students
- Represented Kent
- Called up for England Counties XV tour of south-east France: 2007[4]
References
edit- ^ "Présentation du Groupe Séniors". US Cognac. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
- ^ "History". Sevenoaks Rugby. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ "Profile - Tristan Roberts". Moseley Rugby. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ a b "English Counties XV". rolling-maul.com. 11 September 2007.
- ^ "National Three South 07/08 Leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 19 April 2008.
- ^ "ACADEMY STARS SIGN UP". 6 June 2008.
- ^ "Cov and co all set for action". Coventry Telegraph. 29 August 2008.
- ^ "Moseley win EDF Energy National Trophy at Twickenham". Birmingham Post. 20 April 2009.
- ^ "Championship 09/10 Leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 13 March 2010.
- ^ "Championship Playoffs 09/10 Leading top scorers". 26 May 2010.
- ^ "Other Club News". rugbynetwork.net. 19 May 2010.
- ^ "Tristan Roberts signs for Bristol". Rugby World. April 2011.
- ^ "Championship semi-final play-off: Bristol 29-18 Cornish Pirates". BBC News. 13 May 2012.
- ^ "Tristan Roberts: Ex-Bristol fly-half among trio joining London Welsh". BBC News. 10 June 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ "LONDON WELSH TRIO HEAD TO VALLIS WAY". Ealing Trailfinders. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ "L'ANGLAIS TRISTAN ROBERTS NOUVEL OUVREUR DE L'USC". Charente Libre. 30 May 2016.
- ^ "Tristan Roberts Record by competition". Rugby Statbunker. 23 April 2016.