Devon RFU is delighted to announce the appointment of Richard Hunt as our new Director of Representative Rugby, taking responsibility for the development and coordination of representative rugby across the county.

Richard brings considerable experience of the community game to the role. He has previously served as Director of Rugby at Paignton RFC and is now the club’s Chair, giving him a strong understanding of both the playing and administrative sides of club rugby.

His appointment comes as Devon RFU looks to strengthen its representative programme and ensure that players from clubs across the county have the opportunity to pull on the Devon shirt.

One of Richard’s first priorities will be to engage directly with Devon’s clubs, building stronger relationships and encouraging greater representation across the county’s teams.

Devon currently provides representative opportunities across a wide range of ages and levels.

Our three senior programmes comprise the Senior Men, Senior Women and Under 20 Men, while our Girls’ and Boys’ Age-Grade teams provide opportunities for the next generation of Devon players to develop and experience representative rugby.

Alongside these established pathways, Devon RFU is continuing to develop opportunities designed to make county rugby accessible to an even broader range of players.

These include Devon Deaf Rugby, our Club XV for players competing at Counties 8 and 9, and the recently established Devon Super Vets for players aged 50 and over.

Together, they reflect an ambition to create meaningful representative opportunities throughout the game and ensure that representing Devon is something players from clubs at every level can aspire to.

Richard will be speaking with clubs across the county over the coming months to understand their experiences of representative rugby, identify potential players and strengthen the pathway between club and county.

Central to this will be ensuring that Devon teams draw upon the breadth of talent that exists throughout the county.

Clubs, players and volunteers wishing to discuss representative rugby or find out more about the opportunities available are encouraged to contact Richard at headreprugby@devonrfu.com.