Birmingham & Solihull have unveiled 13 new signings ahead of their 2010-11 Championship campaign.
Birmingham & Solihull unveil 13 new signings
Birmingham & Solihull have unveiled 13 new signings ahead of their 2010-11 Championship campaign.
The Bees are recruited strongly in the forwards, with nine of the new faces set to push for places in the pack.
Props Nglau Tau and Rob Dugard, hookers Dan Oselton and Ben Gerry, locks Alex Ball and Adrian Griffiths and back-rowers Semisi Taulava, Chris Brightwell and Mike Denbee have all agreed deals.
Dugard and Griffiths are both graduates of the Bath academy, while Ball came through the ranks at Leeds.
Former Worcester duo Sam Robinson and George Crook will compete for the No.10 jersey, while another former Warrior, Ollie Grove - brother of Scotland international Alex - and Ben Barkley add strength-in-depth to the centres.
Despite the number of signings, Bees director of rugby Russell Earnshaw admitted that he hasn't finished recruiting yet.
Earnshaw said: "Working within our budget parameters, we have made some excellent signings who are all bought into what we are trying to achieve.
Recruitment
"In a number of cases, players have come on the back of recommendations from people who know what we are about.
"The new recruitment programme has brought the current squad up to 28 players, so there are still three or four players to be added yet until we are up to full strength."
Meanwhile Alex Davidson, the club's most capped ever player, has announced that he is calling time on his playing career at the Bees.
The 29-year-old second row, who played a record 182 times in eight seasons, has been unable to agree a new contract at the Bees.
"It has been an incredibly difficult and emotional decision for me to make," said the former Wales Under-21s lock.
"Ideally I would have liked to stay on as part of the squad, particularly as the club will be playing at a new ground next season, but it wasn't to be. With future family commitments to think about, I had to look at the bigger picture."
