Blackheath opt for Fijian power
Ben Jaycock talks to Blackheath head coach James Shanahan about his star signings for the forthcoming season
BLACKHEATH have secured the league’s most high profile signing during the off season so far with 26-cap Fiji second row Tex Cavubati joining the club. Cavubati, who is 6ft 7in and just shy of 19 stone, broke through at the Ospreys in 2014 before joining Worcester Warriors where he made 24 appearances from 2015-17. The Fijian then went on to play 37 times for Newcastle Falcons followed by a 11-game stint at Harlequins between 2019-21.
The 36-year-old joins the south London club from French Top 14 side Perpignan and provides a wealth of experience from his time with Fiji at both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
Blackheath head coach James Shanahan couldn’t believe his luck when he was approached by fellow new recruit, the former Bristol Bears and Worcester full-back Augustin Slowik, about the lock wanting to join his side. Shanahan, below, told The Rugby
Paper: “That signing fell on my lap. We were having no luck, second rows seemed to be a dying breed or very popular elsewhere but one of our players that signed Augustus Slowik got a message from Cavubati saying ‘are you looking for second rows?’. Augustus asked if I was interested and I went ‘hell yeah!’.
“We gave him a call and it turns out he’s moved back to London to study at St Mary’s University and heard good things about the club through some of the boys here. He wants to develop his coaching, so we’ve helped with that so it’s a win-win. To have someone of his experience is a big step up from what we had last year. Looking forward to seeing what he can do in the next couple of years while helping him with his life after rugby which is what we do here at Blackheath because of course rugby doesn’t last for ever.”
Blackheath have been very busy in the transfer market with 11 new recruits in total and Shanahan is hoping they can build on their eighth-place finish last term.
He said: “We’re really happy with our business. We haven’t had to spend any more than our budget, we’ve been able to move money around from different places; had a couple boys retire and found some jobs for others. I’m really happy we haven’t had to spend more than the budget we were given, while also being able to sign more quality than we expected back in April.”
To balance the books Blackheath were forced to let six players go, including highly rated South African fly-half/full-back Alex Noot, whose leg injury derailed his time at Blackheath and as a result has returned to National Two East side Old Albanian.
Shanahan added: “Poor Alex broke his leg towards the end of the season before he signed for us. It took a lot longer to get back to full fitness, so he didn’t get back until mid-October. He had a run of four games but picked up another injury which meant he missed a few more. It was a stop start season and he said he hadn’t enjoyed it here, clearly it didn’t work out so he’s gone back to OA’s. It’s a real shame because we expected him to be an out and out starter at either 15 or 10 to add something different but it didn’t work out. I’m sure he’ll be very good for OA’s which is why we signed him originally.” Shanahan has been impressed by the business done across the league with the other statement signing coming from
ninth-place finishers Sedgley Park, in their recruitment of 24-year-old Teddy Leatherbarrow from Scarlets.
The former Scotland U20s back row, who is also Wales and England qualified, was a mainstay in the Scarlets’ starting lineup last season but the former Sale Shark has moved back to northern England to link up with his brother Ollie, below, the former Newcastle back row.
“I saw the Teddy Leatherbarrow signing for Sedgley earlier this week, looks a great coup for the club,” said Shanahan.
“I don’t know much about him, he’s clearly a quality player, with his brother already at Sedgley. I thought Sedgley up until Christmas were outstanding. They had a bit of a bad spell but the way they played was a breath of fresh air. They’ll continue to play their entertaining style like they did all season last year. Us, them and Leicester Lions coming into the league through promotion provided some great rugby and added to National One. Leicester started badly and then had a really good spell towards the second half. We stuttered until the second half where we improved massively.
“I’ve seen a few signings by Richmond with players that we were talking to, so they’ve signed quality, especially up front. Rams have signed a couple of boys that are quality, which I know from England Counties from my time there.
“I know Bishop’s Stortford signed a lot from Loughborough University which is a good bit of business, especially with their expansive style of play which is very similar to Loughborough’s.” Darlington Mowden Park have kept their arrivals close to their chest, while Rosslyn Park, Rotherham Titans, Sale FC and Esher opted against revealing their signings and departures.
Shanahan recognises many clubs play the waiting game but likes Blackheath to reveal their movements early to excite its sponsors and supporters.
He added: “A lot of clubs keep it close to their chest. We’re fairly open which is more for our sponsors and supporters to get excited by showing what we’re trying to do via our website and social media. That’s the way we do things instead of not knowing who has signed and who hasn’t, and making supporters and sponsors wait until the start of pre-season.”