George Gosling has been named as the Taunton Titans captain for the 21/22 season.

“An honour and a privilege” are the first words that come to mind for new Titans skipper George Gosling when asked about his elevation to the captaincy. It wasn’t what he was expecting when he saw it was Head Coach Tony Yapp calling, “Tony phoned me at the start of the week. I thought it was a check-up from the weekend’s tough game down at Redruth but he asked me if I wanted to be captain and there wasn’t much thinking to do. I accepted it there and then.”

A loyal club man who played his rugby for Taunton before and after his studies at Exeter University, George describes the laughter and the camaraderie as one of the key features of the Titans set up and insists that keeping the humour there is going to be important on his watch. Once the team takes to the field though, being a role model and a leader is uppermost in his thoughts and he acknowledges that it’s good to have plenty of other leaders around him. George’s duty, he says, is to give everyone else the opportunity to let their qualities and strengths come out, “I want to help bring the best out of everyone in the whole squad because that’s what counts for the overall team effort.”

George’s leadership credentials were obvious to Tony Yapp who had worked with him at Exeter University where Gosling was also captain. “He doesn’t talk too much,” says the Titans’ Head Coach, “but when he does, people tend to listen.” Not just his words, but his actions also make him a natural choice to be first out of the tunnel, “Gos rolls his sleeves up and gets on with it, leading by example, which we like as well.”

Whilst Yapp acknowledges that the coaching group is blessed to have players across the park who are leaders, it was Gosling’s ability to take on the added pressure of being captain and to continue to think strategically about the game that made him, “the ideal choice to lead us into a new league”. Gosling certainly sounds prepared for the task ahead commenting, “Sometimes things get tough, the skipper’s got to be that person who brings everyone round and sets out how we can get back into it.”

Running out at the front of the Taunton Titans side for their debut in National League One will carry some prestige. “When that time comes,” George smiles but with steely determination in his eyes, “it’ll be a proud moment.”

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Written by Richard Kitzinger