Dan Thomas is the new rugby development officer at Cheltenham North and one of his first jobs was to find someone to fill the role he previously held at the club.

And the 46-year-old hasn’t wasted any time because he has named Simanu Lupematasila as the North's new head coach.

The Samoan worked alongside Thomas as player/coach last season and he will continue to play in the coming campaign with Thomas saying of the no 8: “He’s very influential without having to say too many words.

“He’s one of those players who, with one tackle or one drive, can influence the rest of the team.

“He’s well respected and plays the game with his heart on his sleeve; he runs hard, he tackles hard and he expects the same standards from those around him.”

Matt Coles will remain part of the coaching set-up, and both he and Lupematasila, who used to play for Cheltenham Tigers, will continue to work closely with Thomas, who first played for the club back in 1999.

This is the first time that the North have had a rugby development officer and Thomas said: “I’m responsible for overseeing all rugby elements at the club.

“My job is to help develop a pathway for players from under-7s all the way to the seniors.

“The utopia is to have a seamless passage from age group rugby through to the adults.”

The North also have a strong women’s and girls’ section which will also be part of Thomas' remit but he added: “The beauty of the women’s and girls’ section is that for the past couple of seasons a pathway has been established by Mark French and Nathan Smallcombe.

“It’s something they’ve done historically at other clubs and at county level too.”

Thomas will lean on them for advice this season and he continued: “My role is brand new, I’ve never done it before and the club have never had an RDO before.

“It’s not just the playing side, it’s everything that goes with it – how we manage training, selection, the kit.

“It’s about how we look at sports analysis, the support structure for the physiotherapy, how we support the players.

“We want to create something that allows us to recruit players and once they are here we want to keep them.”

The signs are encouraging because the North enjoyed a good 2024/25 campaign.

The men’s flagship team finished second in Counties 2 Gloucestershire North and they also won the Papa John’s Cup Counties 2 South Plate final.

This season they’re hoping to run three regular senior men’s teams and Thomas said: “The club have grown massively in the past few years.

“The 2nds are looking to fulfil every fixture for the third season in a row and the new 3^rd XV will be a mixture of third-team players and vets.”

The youth section is thriving too but while the club is clearly in a good place, Thomas is aware that this season will be tough for the men’s flagship team.

They will play in the newly-formed Counties 2 Gloucestershire and he said: “It will be a really competitive league, the reorganisation has made it really tough.

“I think we’ll be happy with top four but there won’t be one easy game… our first game is at home to Cinderford 2nds!”

Thomas intends to play for the 2nds and 3rds this season and he’s looking forward to it.

His preferred position is in the back row but he expects to play most of the time in the centre in the upcoming campaign.

“It’s not about me, it’s about bringing the youngsters through,” he said. “I remember when I first started at the club, my captain was John Wood and I played with the likes of Jimmy Lamb, Cappa [Neil Carpenter] and Gary Joines.

“We played at Kingsholm in the County Cup final that season, we lost to Gloucester Old Boys to a last-minute try in extra-time.”