FORMER Bishop’s Castle player Tom Savage has agreed a new long-term contract with Gloucester RFC.

The 26-year-old Savage has been one of the real success stories at Kingsholm in recent seasons, skippering Hartpury RFC to the National 3 South (West) title in 2010-11 before earning an opportunity to prove himself in the cherry and white of Gloucester.

He took the chance with both hands, and is now closing in on 100 competitive appearances since his debut in 2011-12 and had the honour of captaining the side in 2013-14.

Savage, who was educated at Community Castle in Bishop’s Castle after moving to Shropshire from Essex when he was ten, said: "To have everything agreed so early is massive for me. I've loved every minute of my time at Gloucester and to have my future sorted so early is great.

"I think this squad has so much potential. We showed glimpses of it last season, especially in Europe when we won the Challenge Cup, but we need to be more consistent.”

*THE Salopian Clan, Shropshire’s first unified rugby team based at Bishop’s Castle, won 36-17 at Llanelli Warriors in their inaugural game.

The Stags had four players who had never played before and a 50-50 split mix of non-LD (learning difficulty) and LD players. Those vulnerable and less confident players, including Stags hooker Zack Pressland, wore red hats to show that they were only to be held and not tackled.

Ryan Beasley scored their first ever try and others came from Jamie Owen (2), Tom Andrews, after a brilliant length-of-the-field run, and Eddie Prince.