Scott Morgan & Peter Richards sign for Bristol

New signings
By Duncan Wood
July 2 2002

After all the recent departures, it came as some relief to see some new faces welcomed to the club this afternoon. Scrum half Peter Richards and second row/ back row forward Scott Morgan are the new boys.

This afternoon at the Memorial Stadium, Bristol Shoguns unveiled two new signings and announced that another of the first team squad had agreed terms for next season.

As reported in the local press this morning, scrum half Peter Richards joined from Benetton Treviso. Richards is best known for playing for Harlequins and London Irish although he also toured with England on the infamous tour of Australia in 1998.

Scott returns to the club a mere 12 months after leaving for Llanelli. He had previously been with Bristol from 1997 until 2001. His best season was in 1999-2000 when he made 28 appearances back in the days when Bob Dwyer was in charge.

The interesting thing about both signings is that they were apparently concluded back in November of last year. Obviously, the club was planning for 2002-3 quite some time ago.

Both players are understandably happy to have joined the club particularly as the Shoguns qualified for the Heineken Cup. Scott's glad to be back in familiar surroundings and Peter's glad to be back in the UK despite enjoying his year in Italy.

It was also announced that Brendon Daniel has signed a new 12 month contract which is heartening news after some of the recent, unexpected departures.

Peter Thorburn stated that there would be no more departures although he was still looking to strengthen the squad. He wouldn't be drawn on the 'phenomenal' new signing and did mention that the player may not arrive in time for the start of the season.

He also stated that he was looking to sign up more Academy players and possibly loan them out to other clubs for them to gain playing experience at a more senior level. He is also trying to get more United games for the fringe players.