Gloucester have confirmed that two players who have gone from strength to strength in the Cherry and White shirt this season have signed new deals with the club.

Back row Freddie Clarke and winger Ollie Thorley have both put pen to paper on new deals to remain at Kingsholm after both establishing themselves in a highly competitive first team squad in the first half of the current campaign.

Clarke, 25, joined the club’s academy in 2016 and earned a first team deal for the current season. And, after 17 appearances this season, has now agreed a new longer term deal with the club.

Winger Thorley is the club’s top try scorer this season, including an impressive tally of four in a man of the match performance against Zebre in December.

At just 21, Thorley has proved himself to be one of the club’s brightest young talents, combining pace, power and an eye for the try line.

Thorley became the youngest player to play for the first team in the professional era in 2013, when he appeared in the LV= Cup in November 2013, and scored on his Aviva Premiership debut in the win over Exeter Chiefs in April 2016.

A World Rugby U20 Championship winner in June 2016, Thorley has gone on to develop into a powerful winger in the Cherry and White first team, making 12 appearances so far this season, scoring an impressive nine tries in the process.

Director of rugby David Humphreys said he was delighted to see two young and exciting players commit their futures to the club.

“Freddie first made his breakthrough last season in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and has really made the most of his first team opportunities ever since,” Humphries said. “He’s a talented player with a bright future and a valued member of the squad.

“Ollie has spent his whole career to date with Gloucester Rugby and we’re very happy that he’s staying. Again, he’s made the most of his chances when they’ve arisen. He’s going to combine his rugby with higher education and we’re fully supportive of that.

“Both Freddie and Ollie are testament to the quality of young players in our squad and the work the academy does in terms of creating a pipeline of talent going forward.

“We are excited to see where these players can take us, along with the exciting squad we are building here, and this is just the start of the announcements that we hope to make in the coming months.”