Ask someone from outside Gloucestershire to name five things about this wonderful county of ours and the chances are that a couple of the answers will be ‘Cheltenham College’ and ‘Gloucester Rugby’.

And if that’s the case it shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone because both have been in existence for well over 140 years, both have a brand that stretches across the globe and both are renowned for being very good at what they do.

There are also very close links between the two, links that have certainly got closer in recent years. So much so that there are five former Cheltenham College pupils in the Gloucester first-team squad at the moment and some 20 current pupils in the various age groups in the academy.

Those closer links have coincided with former Gloucester player Olly Morgan becoming director of rugby at Cheltenham College, a position he has held for the past eight years.

The now 36-year-old Morgan, a fearless full-back back in the day who played more than 130 games for Gloucester between 2004 and 2013, winning two England caps along the way, said: “We’ve always had that close geographic relationship but that relationship has become much closer.

“It’s about trusting each other. With Gloucester and the College, I feel there is a real trust, I know the people involved in the academy – Carl Hogg, Pete Walton and Matt Teague – through my time playing professionally. I know how they operate and the expectations on us as a school that regularly feeds into the programme. And just as importantly they know what we do and how we work.”

And that relationship is certainly paying dividends because the five ex-Cheltenham College pupils are now playing their part in Gloucester’s resurgence under George Skivington, led by Ollie Thorley, the flying wing who has also been capped by England.

Back row Jack Clement is also starting to make an impression while Louis Hillman-Cooper, Tom Stanton, who is currently on loan at Coventry, and Sebastian Blake have all been given opportunities to show what they can do.

“Ollie Thorley was the first person who came through,” said Morgan, “he was always part of the Gloucester set-up when he was growing up.

“But the key thing for me is that these players don’t just get one-year contracts and then things fizzle out, we want them to step up to the next level.”

That is certainly the case at the moment and Morgan keeps a close eye on the progress of his former charges even though they are no longer at Cheltenham College.

“I still have long chats with them on a bi-weekly basis,” he said. “I think it’s really important to maintain that relationship. You invest five years of your time with them while they’re at school – the skills, the emotional side, the friendship; you go through the times of adversity with them.”

And all that hard work that goes into the players in their formative years is certainly not forgotten by the players themselves because they all retain close links with Cheltenham College.

All five are currently supporting The Pied Piper Appeal, which is one of Cheltenham College’s chosen charities for the academic year, a charity that supports sick and disabled children throughout Gloucestershire.

Thorley, Hillman-Cooper, Clement, Stanton and Blake have all signed their one of a kind custom seat covers, which will be raffled off for The Pied Piper Appeal at the end of the 2021/2022 season.

The seat covers are replicas of each of the players’ Cheltenham College rugby shirts and the covers are on display at Kingsholm at home matches this season.

That’s great news for the charity, Cheltenham College and the players themselves, of course, but while the school is rightly proud of the number of top-class sportsmen and women it has produced over the years, Morgan, who is in his first year as assistant director of sport at the college, is keen to stress the school is not only about producing elite athletes.

“Cheltenham College provides sport for all,” he said. “Alongside the core sports of rugby, cricket, hockey, netball, tennis and rowing, we provide opportunities for pupils to do badminton, squash, basketball, swimming, shooting, rackets, polo, football, golf, equestrian to name a few.”

“We encourage pupils to try all sports and find their niche. When they leave us we want them to continue playing sport whether it be professionally, at university or for their local club.”