Jamal Ford-Robinson

Jamal Ford-Robinson

Birth name	Jamal Michael Ford-Robinson
Date of birth	(1993-09-11) 11 September 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth	Bristol, England
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	118 kg (18 st 8 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Tighthead Prop Current team Gloucester Youth career 2010–2012 Leicester Tigers Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2012–2014 Cambridge 35 (20) 2014 Cornish Pirates 19 (0) 2015–2017 Bristol 48 (20) 2017–2019 Northampton Saints 25 (0) 2019– Gloucester 101 (35) Correct as of 25 April 2024 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2014 England Counties XV 2017 England XV 1 (0) Correct as of 7 May 2020

Jamal Ford-Robinson (born 11 September 1993) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby side Gloucester.[1]

Ford-Robinson has also spent time wrestling under the ring name 'Krisys' before returning to play for Bristol Bears.[2][3]

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.[4] He has many half-siblings, at least 10, through his father's different relationships.[4]

Club career

Ford-Robinson had trials at Bristol and Leicester before starting his rugby career in Leicester Tigers'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,[4] and left Leicester mid-way through his second season.[4] Motivated by the videos of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ford-Robinson then moved to National League 1 club Cambridge to continue his dream of playing professional rugby. Ford-Robinson played for two seasons under coach Craig Newby who he knew from Leicester.[4] 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 for his native Cornwall, scoring a try at Twickenham in the final.[4]

After the final he joined RFU Championship side Cornish Pirates in 2014.[5][6]

Ford-Robinson then switched to Bristol Bears for the 2015–16 season and aided in their promotion into the Premiership that season.[7] 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.[8] The young prop left his birthplace of Bristol to join Northampton Saints for the 2017–18 season after signing for the Midlands club on 2 February 2017.[9]

In March 2019, Ford-Robinson signed a 2-year deal with Premiership Rivals Gloucester Rugby.[10] Following the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, he started making humorous videos on the video-sharing website TikTok. The videos gained wide attention from the rugby community which lead to Ford-Robinson winning Premiership Rugby's Community Player of the Month.[3][11]

Ford-Robinson came off the bench as a substitute for the Gloucester side that defeated Leicester in the 2023–24 Premiership Rugby Cup final to lift the trophy.[12] At the end of that season he started in the final of the 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which they lost against Sharks to finish runners up.[13]

International career

In 2014 Ford-Robinson played for England Counties XV against a Georgian side.[4] While at Bristol, Ford-Robinson was noticed by coach Eddie Jones who selected him for a senior England side for a non-cap friendly against the Barbarians at Twickenham on 28 May 2017. Ford-Robinson come off the bench as a substitute.[14][15] He was subsequently included in their 2017 tour of Argentina squad as injury cover for Nick Schonert.[16]

Honours

Gloucester

• 1× Premiership Rugby Cup: 2023–24[12]
• 1× EPCR Challenge Cup runner up: 2023–24[13]

References

1. "Squad Player". Premiership Rugby. 10 March 2016.
2. Iles, Robert (28 July 2019). "Gloucester Rugby new boy Jamal Ford-Robinson talks about fresh start after leaving Northampton Saints, reaching England level, wrestling and the milk challenge". GloucestershireLive. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
3. Varley, Ciaran (30 March 2021). "Jamal Ford-Robinson: The Premiership rugby player coaching esports". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
4. Price, James (June 2024). "Jamal Ford-Robinson". Rugby Journal. No. 26. Merthyr Tydfil: Sporting Eric. pp. 99–103.
5. "Cornish Pirates sign prop Jamal Ford-Robinson on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
6. "Jamal Ford-Robinson". Statbunker. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
7. "Bristol Rugby secure Premiership promotion". ITV. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
8. Cotton, Steven (6 May 2017). "It's official: Bristol Rugby have been relegated and will play in the Championship next season". Bristol Post. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
9. "Northampton Saints to sign Bristol's Mitch Eadie and Jamal Ford-Robinson". BBC Sport. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
10. "Jamal Ford-Robinson: Gloucester to sign Northampton prop in summer". BBC Sport. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
11. "Gloucester Rugby's Jamal Ford-Robinson wins public vote to be named first Gallagher Community Player of the Month". Gallagher. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
12. Hurcom, Sophie (15 March 2024). "Premiership Rugby Cup final: Gloucester 23-13 Leicester: Gloucester clinch first trophy in nine years". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
13. Hurcom, Sophie (24 May 2024). "Sharks overpower Gloucester to win Challenge Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
14. Lowe, Alex (26 May 2017). "Eddie Jones names George Ford and Chris Robshaw as joint England captains". The Times. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
15. Rees, Paul (28 May 2017). "England 28-14 Barbarians". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
16. "Tommy Taylor and Nick Schonert out of England tour with injuries". ESPN. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2024.

External links

• Gloucester Profile
• Jamal Ford-Robinson at ESPNscrum