Oliver Morgan (born 3 November 1985 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

) is a former

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rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who played at fullback for

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

and

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Club career

2004–05

Morgan made 2 appearances for Gloucester during his debut season. His first start was against

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

where he was put on the wing and he was Gloucester's sole try scorer in a 13–14 defeat at Kingsholm.

2005–06

During this season, Morgan made many more appearances for Gloucester competing mainly with Jon Goodridge for the number 15 shirt. Other young players such as Anthony Allen and

Ryan Lamb Ryan Lamb (born 18 May 1986 in Gloucester) is a former rugby union player who plays at fly-half. Club career A former pupil of St Peter's High School, he made his professional debut in the European Challenge Cup quarter final against Brive ...

made their debuts during the season. Morgan caught the eye with his fantastic ability to catch a high ball. Gloucester made the final of the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

which they went on to win but unfortunately Morgan was injured for the final at

The Stoop Twickenham Stoop Stadium (informally referred to as The Stoop) is a sports stadium located in south-west London, England. The stadium is home to Harlequins rugby union team, who play in the Gallagher Premiership. The stadium has a capacity ...

. Overall, Morgan appeared 19 times for Gloucester in all competitions and he scored 2 tries, both in the

2006–07

Morgan and Gloucester made a great start to the season by beating

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

on the opening day with Morgan scoring a try. He continued his great form and was rewarded with selection by

. Unfortunately he was injured in his second appearance for England which ruled him out of the rest of the season including Gloucester's defeat to

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

in the Guinness Premiership Final. He did manage 4 tries in 18 appearances for Gloucester.

2007–08

Injury haunted Morgan once again after another fantastic start to the season. He scored 3 tries in his first 5 appearances of the season. During Gloucester's 31–7 victory at

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, Morgan dislocated his shoulder which ruled him out for nearly 4 months of the season. He returned in late March to play a part in helping Gloucester to top the table. However a dead leg meant he missed out on Gloucester's 25–26 home defeat to

in the semi-finals of the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

. Morgan scored 4 tries in his 13

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

appearances during the season.

2008–09

Despite an indifferent season from

, Morgan played exceptionally well. He scored many tries during the first half of the season including 2 fantastic tries against

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, one at Kingsholm and one at the Memorial Stadium. Another great try was scored against

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

at home. Overall he made 24 appearances and scored 8 tries in all competitions. His 7

tries made him joint top premiership scorer at the club with

Iain Balshaw Iain Robert Balshaw, MBE (born 18 April 1979) is an English former rugby union player who played on the wing or at full back for Bath, Leeds Carnegie, Gloucester and Biarritz Olympique. He won 35 international caps for England between 2000 ...

. His outstanding performances for Gloucester meant that he was named Young player of the season for the 2008/09 season and he was also runner up for the player of the season award. He was also named in the Sky Sports Dream Team for the season, selected by

Will Greenwood William John Heaton Greenwood, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning team and the 1997 British & Irish Lions. H ...

Dewi Morris Dewi Morris (born ) is a former rugby union footballer, who played scrum half for England. Morris was born in Crickhowell, Breconshire, Wales, and graduated from Crewe & Alsager College. He made his England debut in 1988, as a twenty-four yea ...

and

Stuart Barnes Stuart Barnes (born 22 November 1962 in Grays, Essex) is a former English rugby union footballer, and now rugby commentator for Sky Sports. Barnes played fly-half for Newport RFC, Bristol, Bath; and represented England at international level ...

2009-10

Olly started at full back 16 times in all competitions for Gloucester throughout the season. Olly didn't score any tries during the season but he did play an important role in many game including playing in comprehensive wins over Harlequins (46-6) and Sale (47-3).

2010-11

Olly continued as Gloucester's first choice full-back for the season. He scored 6 tries in all competitions from 21 starts. Gloucester went 11 games unbeaten during the season and Olly started 9 of these games. The final game of the run saw Olly help Gloucester win the

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

. A few weeks later Olly played a small but significant part in Gloucester's incredible 41–41 draw at Welford Road with

. He scored the first try of the match after 6 minutes but a few minutes later, in the buildup to Leicester's first try, Olly injured his shoulder which would rule him out for the rest of the season.

2011-12

Olly started 16 out of Gloucester's first 19 games of the season, scoring 5 tries. In November he signed a new contract which ran until 2015. On 7 January 2012 he badly injured his knee which would prevent him from playing for a long time.

2012-13

Due to his knee injury Olly was unable to play for the entire season. On 9 October 2013, Olly Morgan is forced to retire from rugby because of serious knee injuries he sustained back in January 2012. He subsequently became Director of Rugby at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

England

Morgan made his England debut in the

2007 Six Nations The 2007 Six Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 113th series of the international championship. Fifteen mat ...

opener against Scotland at Full Back. He played again for England three weeks later, against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

, in their third game of the tournament but had to leave the field with a season ending shoulder injury before half time. After a great 2008/09 season, Morgan was selected for England's 3 summer games,Morgan selected for England
Gloucester Rugby – 20 May 2009 however he did not make any appearances.

References

External links

Gloucester Rugby Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Olly 1985 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks People educated at Millfield Gloucester Rugby players Rugby union players from London