Oliver Morgan (born 3 November 1985 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) is a former English

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

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 History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

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

Kingsholm Kingsholm is an area of Gloucester, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is home to Kingsholm Stadium, which hosts Gloucester Rugby and other international matches. It is also home to a Church of England school, Kingsholm Primary Sch ...

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 an English former rugby union player who played 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 aga ...

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 ...

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 stadium located in south-west London, England, situated just across the road from Twickenham Stadium. The stadium is home to the Harlequins in Premiership Rugby and has a ...

. 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 area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

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

Bourgoin Bourgoin-Jallieu (; ) is a commune in the Isère department in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France. The city had 28,834 inhabitants in 2019 and lies 35 kilometres east-southeast of Lyon. It was formed by the merger of the former comm ...

, 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, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

. Morgan scored 4 tries in his 13

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 ...

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 status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, one at

and one at the Memorial Stadium. Another great try was scored against London Wasps 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, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequin F.C., Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup, 20 ...

Dewi Morris Dewi Morris (born ) is a former rugby union footballer, who played Scrum-half (rugby union), scrum half for England. Morris was born in Crickhowell, Breconshire, Wales, and graduated from Crewe & Alsager College. He made his England national rug ...

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 Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

England

Morgan made his England debut in the

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

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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, 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