Millfield Rugby Trio offered Professional Contracts by Bath Rugby

Three Millfield Upper Sixth Rugby players have been offered senior academy contracts by Gallagher Premiership side Bath Rugby.

Ioan Emanuel, Ieuan Davies and George Timmins will graduate from the Bath Rugby U18 side and join the senior setup this summer. They will also all study degrees at the University of Bath alongside their rugby commitments.

All three players have starred for both school and country during the 2022/23 season. Ieuan and George represented England U18 and Ioan represented Wales U18 in this year’s U18 Six Nations event. They also contributed to another record-breaking year for Millfield, forming part of the teams that won a record eighth St. Joseph’s Festival title and also clinched the inaugural Schools Championships after defeating Sedbergh at the World Schools Festival in Thailand last year. They will all be featured in an upcoming documentary covering Millfield Rugby’s 2022-23 campaign named ‘The Season’, a renowned series commissioned by RugbyPass, who are the world’s largest rugby fan platform.

Ieuan Davies, who captains the Millfield first XV, joined the school in Year 9, and studies Maths, Economics and Biology at A level. Scrum-Half Ieuan has been representing the Bath U18 side since he was in the U16 age group, with his performances this year earning him a call-up to the England U19 squad.

Eighteen-year-old George Timmins has been a member of the Millfield Community for nearly seven years, having joined Millfield Prep School in Year 7. He is currently studying Business Studies, Media Studies and Psychology at A level. George, who plays in the Back Row, represented England U18 in the U18 Six Nations Festival earlier this year. George said “It felt great to get the news about the contract offer from Bath as it’s something I’ve wanted to achieve for a long time. I’m really looking forward to moving into the senior environment, which will be a great new experience and challenge for me. I joined Millfield for the incredible facilities on campus and the detailed feedback you receive from the coaches; the school has really helped me develop as a player.”

Cardiff-born Prop Forward Ioan Emanuel joined Millfield in Lower Sixth, and is studying Business Studies, Geography and History at A level. Ioan made his Welsh U18 debut earlier this season, and is joined in the Welsh team by younger brother Stefan, who is a Lower Sixth student at Millfield.

Bath Rugby Academy Director Sean Lilley said “We have been fortunate to have such a fantastic group of players to work with throughout the years and we’re delighted to be bringing through extremely talented boys from this year’s cohort. The Under-18s campaign was great for their progression as players and people and we can’t wait to help them on the next stage of their journey. We are extremely proud of them and if they work hard, they all have the potential to develop their game positively over the next couple of seasons.” 

The boys will be following in the footsteps of many former Millfield students who have made the step from schoolboy rugby to the Bath Senior setup. Old Millfieldians currently wearing the blue, black and white of Bath include Josh Bayliss, Eddie Erskine, Jonathan Joseph, Max Pearce, Ewan Richards and Sam Harris, who graduated from the Bath U18 Academy last season and was recently named as the Academy/Breakthrough Player of the Season.

The main aim of Millfield Rugby is to enhance individual players in a challenging environment with development at the forefront of training. Millfield Sport work closely with players for further conditioning, physiotherapy and performance analysis to uncover each individual’s greatest potential. This, combined with a team of 18 specialist coaches, maintains Millfield’s rugby legacy as a leading establishment in the pathway to elite rugby. Millfield were named as the number one rugby school in the world in NextGenXV’s 2022 rankings in recognition of their unrivalled programme and proud rugby history.