Jamal Ford-Robinson (born 11 September 1993) is an English professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who plays as a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

side

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

. Ford-Robinson has also spent time

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

under the ring name 'Krisys' before returning to play for Bristol Bears.

Early life

Ford-Robinson was born in Bristol, at the age of 5 years old he moved with his mother to Penryn and started playing rugby at the local club. He has many half-siblings, at least 10, through his father's different relationships.

Club career

Ford-Robinson had trials at Bristol and Leicester before starting his rugby career in

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

's academy at 16. Ford-Robinson struggled with a conversion to the position of hooker from his preferred position of prop, said he probably suffered from anxiety during this period, and left Leicester mid-way through his second season. Motivated by the videos of

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

, Ford-Robinson then moved to

National League 1 National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

club

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

to continue his dream of playing professional rugby. Ford-Robinson played for two seasons under coach Craig Newby who he knew from Leicester. After a first season where Cambridge were relegated from National League 1, Ford-Robinson played regularly in National League 2. At the end of that season he played in the

2014 County Championship The 2014 County Championship season, known as the LV= County Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the 115th cricket County Championship season. It was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team played all the ...

for his native

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, scoring a try at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

in the final. After the final he joined

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

side

Cornish Pirates The Cornish Pirates () are a professional rugby union team who play in the RFU Championship, Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. The Cornish Pirates team are the 'First XV' o ...

in 2014. Ford-Robinson then switched to

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

for the 2015–16 season and aided in their promotion into the Premiership that season. The prop made 48 appearances in a Bristol shirt and suffered with the club as they were relegated back to the Championship at the end of the 2016–17 campaign. The young prop left his birthplace of Bristol to join

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

for the 2017–18 season after signing for the Midlands club on 2 February 2017. In March 2019, Ford-Robinson signed a 2-year deal with Premiership Rivals

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. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...

. Following the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in early 2020, he started making humorous videos on the video-sharing website

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. The videos gained wide attention from the rugby community which lead to Ford-Robinson winning

's Community Player of the Month. Ford-Robinson came off the bench as a substitute for the Gloucester side that defeated Leicester in the

2023–24 Premiership Rugby Cup The 2023–24 Premiership Rugby Cup is the 51st season of England's national rugby union cup competition and the first under the new Premiership Rugby Cup format including clubs from both the Premiership and Championship. Exeter Chiefs are t ...

final to lift the trophy. At the end of that season he started in the final of the

2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup The 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup was the 10th edition of the EPCR Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 28th e ...

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur in North London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the List of football stadium ...

which they lost against

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

to finish runners up.

International career

In 2014 Ford-Robinson played for

England Counties XV England Counties XV is a representative rugby union team, formed in 2002, open to English players who play in the County Championship and the third tier (and below) of the English rugby union system. Players from the Premiership and RFU Champi ...

against a Georgian side. While at Bristol, Ford-Robinson was noticed by coach Eddie Jones who selected him for a senior side for a non-

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

friendly against the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

on 28 May 2017. Ford-Robinson come off the bench as a substitute. He was subsequently included in their 2017 tour of Argentina squad as injury cover for Nick Schonert.

Honours

; Gloucester * 1×

Premiership Rugby Cup The Premiership Rugby Cup is an English rugby union knockout cup competition for teams in Premiership Rugby and from the 2023–24 season the RFU Championship. It was created in 2018 to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup after the withdrawal of the Wels ...

: 2023–24 * 1×

EPCR 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 ...

runner up: 2023–24

References

External links

Gloucester Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford-Robinson, Jamal 1993 births Living people Bristol Bears players Cornish Pirates players English rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players Northampton Saints players Rugby union players from Bristol Rugby union props