Jamal Ford-Robinson
| Birth name | Jamal Michael Ford-Robinson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 11 September 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bristol, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 118 kg (18 st 8 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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
[edit]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
[edit]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, in 2024 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
[edit]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
[edit]- Gloucester
- 1× Premiership Rugby Cup: 2023–24[12]
- 1× EPCR Challenge Cup runner up: 2023–24[13]
References
[edit]- ^ "Squad Player". Premiership Rugby. 10 March 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Varley, Ciaran (30 March 2021). "Jamal Ford-Robinson: The Premiership rugby player coaching esports". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Price, James (June 2024). "Jamal Ford-Robinson". Rugby Journal. No. 26. Merthyr Tydfil: Sporting Eric. pp. 99–103.
- ^ "Cornish Pirates sign prop Jamal Ford-Robinson on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ "Jamal Ford-Robinson". Statbunker. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- ^ "Bristol Rugby secure Premiership promotion". ITV. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Northampton Saints to sign Bristol's Mitch Eadie and Jamal Ford-Robinson". BBC Sport. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
- ^ "Jamal Ford-Robinson: Gloucester to sign Northampton prop in summer". BBC Sport. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b Hurcom, Sophie (24 May 2024). "Sharks overpower Gloucester to win Challenge Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ Lowe, Alex (26 May 2017). "Eddie Jones names George Ford and Chris Robshaw as joint England captains". The Times. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ Rees, Paul (28 May 2017). "England 28-14 Barbarians". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ "Tommy Taylor and Nick Schonert out of England tour with injuries". ESPN. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2024.